Eroshkin 
The  Soviets  in  Russia 


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The 

Soviets  in  Russia 


BY 


M.  K.  EROSHKIN 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 
Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet 
The  Bolshevist  Economic  Policy 
The  Land  Problem  in  Russia 
The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia 


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Russian  Information  Bureau  in  the  U.   S. 

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^^crutjrn  n  ^-"«^^ 


THE 

SOVIETS  IN  RUSSIA 

By 
M.  K.  EROSHKIN 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 
Mir,  2^mstvo  and  Soviet 
The  Bolshevist  Economic  Policy 
The  Land  Problem  in  Russia 
The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia 


Published  by  the 

RUSSIAN  INFORMATION  BUREAU  IN  THE  U.  S- 

Woolworth   Building 
N  EW    YORK    CITY 


Copyright,  1919 

Russian  Information  Bureau 

'New  York 


E7 


Introduction 

The  author  of  this  pamphlet,  M.  K.  Eroshkin, 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Petrograd  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute. He  took  an  active  part  in  the  Revolutionary 
Movement  and  was  the  Chairman  of  the  Perm 
Committee  of  the  Party  of  Socialists-Revolution- 
ists. Under  the  Provisional  Government  he  rep- 
resented the  Minister  of  Agriculture  in  the  Perm 
District,  and  later  was  Assistant-Minister  of 
Agriculture  in  the  Provisional  Government  of 
the  Ural. 

M.  K.  Eroshkin  came  to  this  country  with 
Catherine  Breshkovsky,  and  during  his  short  stay 
in  this  country  has  done  very  much  to  enlighten 
the  American  people  about  conditions  in  and  the 
problems  of  Russia  through  a  series  of  articles 
printed  in  our  weekly  magazine,  Struggling  Russia. 
We  reprint  these  articles  feeling  certain  that  their 
lucidity  and  depth  of  thought  will  make  them  of 
interest  for  every  American  interested  in  Russia. 

A.  J.  SACK, 

Director  of  the  Russian  Information 
Bureau  in  the  U.  S. 

May  20,  1919. 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 

VERY  frequently,  we,  Russian  democrats  and  socialists, 
hear  the  following  from  intelligent  and  enlightened 
Americans  with  radical  convictions  and  leanings: 
"Very  true,  Bolshevism  is  an  evil ;  the  Bolsheviki  are  destroy- 
ing Russia.  But  you  have  Soviets  there  which  are  taking  the 
place  of  your  parliaments.  The  Soviets  are  the  most  demo- 
cratic form  of  government  ever  tried  in  this  world.  We  are 
amazed,  therefore,  why  you,  Russian  radicals,  are  opposed  to 
the  wishes  of  your  own  people.  The  Bolsheviki,  admittedly, 
are  only  a  political  party,  but  the  Soviets  are  organs  of  Gov- 
ernment. How,  then,  can  you  confound  and  join  them 
together  ?" 

Such  questions  indicate  the  unfamiliarity  of  Americans 
with  both  the  history  of  the  Soviets  and  their  significance  and 
role  in  the  Russian  Revolution.  Therefore  we  desire  to 
explain  briefly  what  the  Soviets  are,  how  and  for  what  purpose 
they  were  originated,  their  present  stage  of  evolution  and 
the  effect  of  their  political  functioning  on  the  Russian  people, 
the  Russian  State  and  Russia's  welfare. 

The  idea  of  organizing  a  Soviet  of  Workmen's  Deputies  first 
originated  in  Petrograd,  in  October,  1905,  with  the  Mensheviki 
faction  of  the  Social-Democrats.  The  idea  was  supported  by 
the  Socialists-Revolutionists,  but  met  with  strong  opposition 
from  the  Bolsheviki,  who  styled  the  creation  of  such  organiza- 
tions "the  invention  of  semi-bourgeois  parties  to  enthrall  the 
proletariat  in  a  partyless  swamp."  But  the  first  steps  of  the 
Soviet  organized  by  the  Petrograd  workers  met  with  such 
success  among  the  masses  of  the  Petrograd  proletariat  that 
the  Bolsheviki  had  no  choice  but  to  enter  that  Soviet.  The 
Soviet  never  for  a  moment,  at  that  time,  planned  to  demand 
for  itself  plenary  powers.  Its  aim  consisted  only  in  organiz- 
ing the  revolutionary  forces  and  sentiment. 

That  Soviet,  with  Khrustalev-Nosar  and  N.  D.  Avksentiev 
at  its  head,  did  not  last  very  long,  and  was  driven  out  of  exist- 
ence when  the  autocracy  of  the  Tzar  regained  its  strength. 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 


Its  leaders  were  banished  to  Siberia,  and  from  Siberia  they 
escaped  to  France. 

When  the  Second  Revolution  broke  out  in  March,  1917,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  hold  together  the  revolutionary  ele- 
ments to  keep  them  from  becoming  an  uncontrollable  ava- 
lanche, the  Socialist  factions  of  the  State  Duma  and  the  com- 
mittees of  the  Socialist  parties  of  Petrograd  at  once,  without 
regular  elections,  on  March  23,  organized  the  Petrograd  Soviet 
of  Workmen's  and  Soldiers'  Deputies,  with  Tcheidze,  Keren- 
sky  and  Sokolov  at  its  head.  Other  Soviets  began  to  be 
formed,  after  the  pattern  of  the  one  in  Petrograd,  in  all  cities 
and  factories  where  large  numbers  of  workmen  and  soldiers 
were  found.  In  May,  1917,  there  was  also  organized  the  first 
All-Russian  Soviet  of  Peasants'  Deputies,  led  by  Catherine 
Breshkovsky,  Chernov,  Avksentiev  and  Martiushin. 

The  program  of  all  these  Soviets  may  be  formulated  in 
the  following  paragraphs : 

1.  To  organize  the  revolutionary  forces  of  the  Russian 
people. 

2.  To  organize  and  give  expression  to  its  political  and 
social  demands  in  connection  with  the  Revolution. 

3.  To  give  support  and  aid  to  the  Provisional  Government 
in  its  task  of  coordinating  the  State  machinery  of  the  liber- 
ated country. 

4.  To  concentrate  the  forces  of  the  working  masses,  as 
the  most  interested  in  the  preservation  of  the  newly-won 
liberties. 

When  the  revolutionary  storm  had  subsided  and  when, 
with  the  aid  of  the  Soviets  and  the  political  parties,  the  neces- 
sity of  the  retention  of  the  acquired  liberties  had  penetrated 
deeply  into  the  consciousness  of  the  people ;  when  laws  fixing 
definitely  the  rule  of  the  people  locally  (township,  village  and 
the  Government  Zemstvo)  and  centrally,  for  all  Russia  (the 
Constituent  Assembly),  based  on  the  fundamental  practices  of 
universal  democracy  and  the  Socialist  International — univer- 
sal, direct,  equal  and  secret  suffrage — were  drawn  up  and 
adopted,  the  Soviets  should  have  retired  in  favor  of  the  new 
governmental  democratic  institutions. 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 


The  expression  of  the  political  struggle  could  well  have 
been  taken  care  of  by  the  highly  developed  political  parties. 
For  the  economic  struggle  there  existed  the  various  trade  and 
cooperative  organizations,  which,  through  their  immediate  in- 
fluence upon  their  Deputies,  could  in  a  peaceful  way  have  won 
for  themselves,  step  by  step,  through  acts  of  legislation,  ever- 
increasing  rights  in  the  interests  of  the  people.  Thus  the  or- 
ganization of  the  national  forces  would  have  been  divided,  as 
we  all  thought  and  hoped,  along  the  following  lines :  the  Zem- 
stvos;  the  Constituent  Assembly;  the  Labor  and  cooperative 
bodies  and  the  political  parties. 

But  the  fates  had  ordained  otherwise.  The  Bolsheviki,  true 
to  their  slogans,  "The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat" — "All 
steam  ahead  for  Socialism,"  unfurled  a  new  banner  upon  which 
was  written  "All  Power  to  the  Soviets,"  instead  of  "All  Power 
to  the  Constituent  Assembly."  In  vain  were  the  attempts  to 
persuade  them  that  it  is  impossible  to  confuse  the  mind  of 
the  people  with  concepts  of  contradictory  powers;  in  vain 
were  long  speeches  pointing  out  their  treason  to  the  interna- 
tional democratic  and  Socialist  principle  of  universal  suffrage. 
The  Bolsheviki,  to  whom  the  end  has  always  justified  the 
means,  overthrew  the  Government  by  armed  force,  dispersed 
the  Constituent  Assembly  and  proclaimed  Russia  a  "Federal 
Socialist  Soviet  Republic." 

According  to  the  Soviet  Constitution,  Russia  is  governed 
by  Soviets  of  Deputies,  elected  by  the  secret,  direct  and  equal 
vote  of  all  the  working  masses.  In  fact,  there  never  was 
either  a  secret  election  in  Soviet  Russia,  or  one  based  on  equal 
suffrage.  Elections  are  usually  conducted  at  a  given  factory 
or  foundry  at  open  meetings,  by  the  raising  of  hands  and 
always  under  the  knowing  eye  of  the  chairman.  The  major- 
ity of  the  workers  very  frequently  do  not  take  any  part  in 
these  elections  at  all.  The  rights  of  a  minority  are  never 
recognized,  as  proportional  representation  has  been  rejected. 

As  regards  direct  elections,  it  is  again  a  mere  phrase.  The 
Central  Executive  Committee,  which  is  supposed  to  embody 
the  supreme  administrative  organ  of  the  country,  was  actually 
being  elected  through  a  four-grade  system.     Local   Soviets 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 


send  their  representatives  to  the  Provincial  Congress ;  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  is  represented  by  delegates  at  the  All-Rus- 
sian Congress,  and  only  this  last  body  elects  the  Central 
Executive  Committee.  Often  the  delegates  are  not  elected 
by  the  regular  meetings  of  the  Soviets  at  all,  but  are  sent  by 
the  Executive  Committees,  cleverly  handpicked  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki  after  the  system  of  proportional  representation  was  re- 
jected. 

In  this  way  the  accepted  electoral  system  of  the  Bolsheviki 
differs  little  from  the  ill-famed  system  of  elections  to  the  old 
State  Duma,  promulgated  by  the  law  of  June  3,  1907,  with' 
the  only  essential  difference  that  while  that  law  was  designed 
to  elect  only  monarchists,  this  system  is  calculated  to  elect 
only  Bolsheviki.  The  analogy  does  not  end  here.  Just  as 
under  the  old  regime  opponents  of  Tzarism  were  occasionally 
elected  to  the  Duma  in  spite  of  the  corrupt  electoral  system, 
so  in  the  beginning  of  the  Bolshevist  rule  Socialists  had  their 
representatives  in  the  Soviets.  And,  just  as  in  the  days  of  the 
Tzar,  the  minions  of  the  Government  would  drive  and  banish 
the  revolutionists  to  Siberia,  so  now  the  servants  of  His  Majes- 
ty, Lenine,  are  filling  the  prisons  with  Socialists  and  are 
shooting  them  down. 

The  exclusion  from  the  Soviets  of  all  who  think  differently 
from  the  Bolsheviki  developed  gradually.  They  "cleansed" 
the  Soviets  in  Perm  and  Ekaterinburg,  in  January,  1918;  in 
Ufa,  Saratov,  Samara,  Kazan  and  Yaroslavl,  in  December, 
1917;  in  Moscow  and  Petrograd  in  February,  1918.  They  were 
excluding  all  Socialists-Revolutionists  and  the  Mensheviki,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  People's  Socialists  and  members  of  the 
Labor  Group.  Often,  when  workers  demanded  new  elections 
to  the  Soviet  (as  happened  in  Petrograd  late  in  December  of 
1917,  and  early  in  January,  1918),  and  such  elections  did  take 
place,  the  Bolsheviki  would  not  permit  the  newly  elected  dele- 
gates to  enter  the  building  of  the  Soviet  and  frequently  ar- 
rested them.  Gradually  only  Bolsheviki  and  Socialists-Revolu- 
tionists of  the  Left  remained  in  the  Soviets.  Soon,  however, 
after  the  assassination  in  Moscow  of  Count  Mirbach,  the  Ger- 
man Ambassador,  and  the  attempt  at  rebellion  in  Moscow 


The  Soviets  in  Russia 


early  in  June,  1918,  by  the  Socialists-Revolutionists  of  the 
Left,  the  Bolsheviki  began  to  fill  up  the  prisons  with  the  lat- 
ter just  as  they  did  with  the  Socialists-Revolutionists  of  the 
Right  and  the  Mensheviki. 

So,  practically,  there  remained  only  Bolsheviki  in  the  Sov- 
iets. And  as  there  was  no  difference  of  opinion  among  them, 
regular  meetings  were  soon  abandoned  altogether  and  the 
ostensible  "rule  of  the  working  masses"  thus  definitely  dis- 
appeared. A  few  persons,  often  appointed  from  above  (the 
Bolsheviki  often  had  recourse  to  bayonets  to  support  the  fic- 
tion of  Soviet  Rule :  in  Tumen  the  Executive  Committee  of  a 
non-existent  Soviet  was  brought  from  Ekaterinburg  under  a 
convoy  of  800  Red  Guards)  would  rule  and  lord  it  over  the 
people,  tired  and  weary  of  the  war  and  a  sterile  social  revo- 
lution. 

As  time  wore  on  the  people  here  and  there  would  rise 
against  the  Bolsheviki,  until  finally  the  Czecho-Slovaks  gave 
this  movement  an  organized  form.  Fronts  were  erected 
everywhere,  and  soon,  instead  of  Executive  Committees  of 
Workmen's  Deputies,  there  appeared  in  those  regions  of  Sov- 
iet Russia  adjacent  to  these  fronts,  new  "administrative"  or- 
gans, the  so-called  "Military-Revolutionary  Committees," 
which  had  nothing  at  all  in  common  with  the  "rule  of  the 
working  masses."  These  would  consist  of  a  group  of  two  or 
three  people,  mostly  members  of  Red  Army  organizations, 
who  would  take  to  themselves  all  "civil  and  military  powers" 
and  would  rule  despotically  over  their  virtual  subjects. 

Occasional  outbursts  of  popular  wrath  serve  as  indications 
t  f  the  depth  of  the  dissatisfaction  which  is  engendered  by  the 
Soviets  and  their  off-shoots,  the  Military-Revolutionary  Com- 
mittees. Thus,  in  the  Polevsky  Works,  in  Ekaterinburg  Coun- 
ty, a  mob  of  peasants,  armed  with  axes,  scythes  and  sticks, 
fell  upon  the  Soviets  and  beast-like  tore  into  fragments  fifty 
Bolsheviki.  In  the  Neviansk  Works  the  insurrection  of  the 
workers  against  the  Red  Army  lasted  for  three  days  until 
reinforcements  from  Perm  finally  subdued  this  "counter-revo- 
lutionary" revolt.  In  Okhansk  County  2,000  peasants  were 
shot  down  for  demanding  the  abolition  of  the  Soviets  and  the 
reestablishment  of  the  rule  of  the  people. 


10  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  Soviets  are  not  a  demo- 
cratic institution,  but  merely  the  dictatorship  of  the  Bolshe- 
viki ;  that  they  do  not  represent  the  people,  and  that  they 
cannot,  in  fact,  owing  to  their  very  form,  represent  it;  that 
the  Soviets  have  usurped  rights  which  do  not  belong  to  them. 
Therefore,  we,  Russian  democrats  and  socialists,  are  opposed 
to  the  Soviets,  and  stand  for  a  Constitutional  Assembly  and 
for  all  those  who  support  it. 


Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet 

PARLOR  Bolshevism  is  hard  at  work.  In  evening  dress, 
reclining  in  soft  arm-chairs  after  a  tasty  dinner,  under 
the  soft  lights  of  the  drawling-rooms,  bathing  in  the  mel- 
lifluous odors  of  perfume  tempered  by  the  delicate  aroma  of 
costly  cigars,  elegantly  gowned  ladies  and  fashion-plate  gen- 
tlemen are  busily  ransacking  the  aflfairs  of  the  world,  and, 
of  course,  principally  the  travails  of  Russia.  Is  Bolshevism 
really  a  menace  for  the  world,  or  is  it  a  system  of  universal 
happiness  and  content?  Some  gentleman  who  has  spent  two 
or  three  months  in  Russia  is,  probably,  the  center  of  attrac- 
tion in  the  room.  For,  is  not  he  a  precious  source  of  "first 
hand"  information,  the  one  who  has  been  on  the  spot  and 
has  seen  and  heard  it  all  personally? 

What  of  it,  if  this  "font  of  knowledge"  lived  at  "Hotel 
Europe,"  traveled  in  the  special  car  of  the  "International  So- 
ciety," made  himself  understood  through  an  interpreter  and 
never  knew  nor  read  anything  about  Russia's  history  or  her 
institutions!  Here,  in  America,  he  had  just  accidentally  heard 
about  the  Russian  "Mir,"  and  in  Russia  he  had  heard  about 
the  "Soviets."  So,  why  not  link  these  two  together  and 
serve  it  up  to  his  audience  as  the  "very  latest"  in  Russian 
democracy,  and  present  the  "Soviet"  as  a  new  form  of  the  old 
Russian  "Mir."  Occasionally,  at  one  of  these  gatherings  a 
newspaper  worker,  who  is  "covering"  Russia  for  his  paper,  is 
present.  For  want  of  better  material,  and  trusting  to  luck 
and  the  credulity  of  his  readers,  he  "cleverly"  presents  this 
theory  ,of  the  Soviets  as  the  last  step  in  democratic  govern- 
ment, in  the  columns  of  his  next  Sunday  edition,  coupling  it 
closely  with  that  ancient  Russian  form  of  communal  self- 
government,  the  "Mir,"  and  winding  up  with  the  pathetic  as- 
sertion that  America,  a  democratic  country,  is  in  duty  bound 
to  recognize  Soviet  Russia,  another  democratic  land !  And 
the  reader  swallows  it.  "Mir,"  "Zemstvo"  and  "Soviet"  is  all 
foreign  matter  to  him,  and  willy-nilly  he  comes  to  think: 
"Why  not,  indeed?  Did  not  we  maintain  relations  with  Tzar- 
ist  Russia, — why  not  continue  now  to  deal  with  the  Russian 


12  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


people  directly,  through  their  Soviets  which  rule  the  country?" 
For  these  American  citizens  who  are  sincerely  interested 
in  Russia,  who  want  to  have  relations  with  the  Russian  peo- 
ple, who  have  given  their  sympathies  to  this  people  in  its 
struggle  with  the  Autocracy,  I  wish,  as  a  Russian,  to  explain 
what  the  Russian  "Mir,"  the  Russian  "Zemstvo"  and  the  Rus- 
sian "Soviet"  are,^the  differences  between  them,  and  what 
form  of  self-government  may  lay  claim  to  popular  recognition, 
as  the  organ  which  expresses  the  actual  free  will  of  the  people. 

Without  delving  too  deeply  into  Russian  history,  without 
drawing  analogies  and  parallels  between  certain  institutions 
cf  ancient  Russian  life  and  similar  institutions  in  the  history 
of  other  nations,  we  shall  simply  accept  as  a  fact,  supported 
by  historic  data  as  well  as  by  contemporary  observation,  that 
in  the  Russian  village  from  ancient  times  until  practically 
very  recent  days  there  existed  a  very  interesting  social  phe- 
nomenon— the  discussion  of  local  affairs  by  an  assembly  of 
village  peasants.    This  assembly  was  called  a  "Mir." 

In  the  light  of  historic  research  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
a  comparative  study  of  modern  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
recently  colonized  villages  of  Siberia,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  established  beyond  dispute  that  the  existence  of  the  "Mir" 
was  closely  bound  up  with  the  land  relations,  particularly 
those  which  may  be  characterized  as  communal  allotments 
relations.  Wherever  a  land  commune  (or  "obschina")  existed, 
there  was  also  found  a  "Mir,"  and,  on  the  other  hand,  wher- 
ever the  form  of  private-lot  ownership  prevailed,  such  as  in 
the  Ukraine,  in  the  stake-lands  of  Siberia,  etc.,  the  "Mir"  did 
not  exist. 

It  is  necessary  to  state  that  Russian  colonization,  or  to 
be  more  precise,  the  colonization  of  the  northeastern  and 
southeastern  parts  of  the  Russian  flatlands  proceeded  by 
spurts  and  bounds.  The  colonization  was  prompted  by  the 
never-ending  quest  for  better  lands,  and  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  the  removals  and  settlements  were  made  by  village 
groups  and  not  by  individual  settlers.  While  land  was  plenti- 
ful and  the  settlers  sparse,  there  was  little  occasion  for  regu- 
lating the  land  relations  between  the  members  of  the  com- 


Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet  13 

mune  (the  entire  village,  as  a  rule,  constituted  such  a  com- 
mune which  owned  collectively  a  given  piece  of  land),  but 
when,  later,  a  land  scarcity  was  beginning  to  be  felt  owing 
to  the  increase  in  population  and  the  land-grabbing  by  the 
nobles,  and  later  to  the  arbitrary  grants  issued  by  the  Tzars 
to  their  "deserving  servants,"  there  appeared  a  necessity  for 
the  reallotment  of  the  land  on  more  equitable  principles. 
Hence,  the  development  of -that  phenomenon  known  in  Rus- 
sian history  as  the  "Mir."  The  peasants  of  a  given  village, 
who  held  each  a  certain  parcel  of  the  communal  land,  would 
usually  gather  in  the  village  square  and  in  common  decide  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  reallotment  of  this  land.  "The 
right  of  voice"  at  the  "Mir"  belonged  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  entitled  to  land  lots,  who  were,  in  most  cases, 
the  heads  of  the  families.  Usually  the  father  was  at  the 
head  of  the  family, — the  "old  man," — and,  hence  the  origin 
ot  that  old  Russian  expression  "The  elders  have  decided  at 
the  'Mir.' " 

When  the  Government  began  to  tax  land  and  the  peasants 
were  compelled  to  pay  contributions  (podati),  the  problem  of 
the  distribution  of  the  taxes  among  the  landholders  was  added 
to  the  deliberations  of  the  "Mir."  Later  came  other  dues: 
fire  taxes,  road  taxes  and  horse  obligations,  and  these,  too, 
came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  "Mir," 

After  the  peasants  were  liberated  from  their  condition  of 
serfdom,  and  discontent  with  the  insufficient  final  land  allot- 
ment began  to  grow  strong,  the  Government  took  measures  to 
gradually  deprive  the  peasants  from  the  opportunities  of  dis- 
cussing their  land  problems,  first,  by  limiting  reallotments  to 
certain  periods  and  later  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  func- 
tionary, the  "Zemsky  administrator."  He  was  to  replace  the 
former  self-rule  of  the  peasants  to  the  extent  that  they  were 
to  discharge  all  their  duties  and  obligations  not  in  accordance 
with  their  own  will  and  self-determination,  but  in  compliance 
with  his  orders. 

Thus,  as  we  see,  this  outstanding  fact  in  the  history  of 
the  Russian  village  amounted  to  the  appearance  among  the 
Russian  peasants  of  a  peculiar  form  of  self-government,  the 


14  ThfC  Soviets  in  Russia 


main  feature  of  which  was  that  the  lot-holders  of  the  village 
would  gather  at  meetings  and  by  mutual  effort  solve  all  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  holding  of  the  land  and  to  the  payment  of 
the  taxes  levied  upon  it.  This  form  of  agrarian  self-govern- 
ment was  known  as  the  "Mir." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  learn  now  what  common  features 
or  connections  there  are  between  the  "Mir,"  the  "Zemstvo"  and 
the  "Soviets";  whether  the  latter  are  the  further  development 
of  the  former  phenomenon,  or  represent  new  forms  of  self- 
government  heretofore  unknown  to  the  Russian  people.  In 
order  to  answer  this  question,  we  must  first,  in  brief,  acquaint 
the  reader  with  the  essentials  of  the  Zemstvo  and  the  Soviet. 

In  the  early  sixties,  in  the  so-called  Period  of  Great  Re- 
forms, under  the  pressure  of  popular  and  social  movements, 
Tzar  Alexander  II  made  a  number  of  concessions.  He  granted 
(in  1864)  among  other  reforms,  such  as  the  liberation  of  the 
peasants  from  serfdom,  the  judicial  reforms,  the  new  military 
service  laws, — a  reform  in  rural  government,  namely,  a  sys- 
tem of  Zemstvo  administrations  in  v36  governments,  and  later, 
in  1869,  a  similar  reform  for  city  self-government.  The  Zem- 
stvos  were  divided  into  county  (ooyezd)  and  government 
(gubernia)  units.  In  the  elections  to  the  Zemstvos  only  per- 
sons with  defined  land-owning  qualifications  were  allowed  to 
take  part,  and  the  elections  were  conducted  on  a  class  sys- 
tem, like  the  old  Prussian  electoral  system.  The  great  major- 
ity of  the  people  could  not  participate  in  these  elections,  and 
these  organs,  the  Zemstvos,  could  not,  essentially,  be  termed 
true,  full  and  free  representation  of  the  people.  In  addition, 
all  Zemstvos  were  placed,  by  the  law  of  1864  and  the  supple- 
mentary law  of  1894,  under  the  surveillance — as  regards  the 
legality  and  expediency  of  their  decisions — of  the  adminis- 
trative organs  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  the  darkest  of 
all  the  ministries  of  Tzarist  Russia,  which  was  strangling 
every  sign  of  free  expression  of  the  popular  will.  The  law  of 
1894  even  raised  the  election  qualifications,  and,  as  a  result, 
only  very  few  peasants  could  take  part  in  the  voting. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  effort  of  the  Government  to 
destroy  the  Zemstvos,  in  one  way  or  another,  they  grew  and 


Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet  15 

their  activities  developed.  They  covered  Russia  with  a  num- 
ber of  hospitals,  opened  thousands  of  schools  and  a  number 
of  museums  of  agricultural  economy,  and,  in  general,  v^^orked 
faithfully  among  the  people  combatting  the  prevailing  dark- 
ness and  serving  as  a  ray  of  light,  no  matter  how  pale  and 
timid,  in  the  black  night  of  Tzarist  Russia. 

The  Russian  Revolution  of  March,  1917,  which  did  away 
with  the  autocracy,  brought  to  the  forefront,  besides  the  reali- 
zation of  the  political  liberties  of  the  person  and  citizen,  also 
the  problem  of  the  imm.ediate  organization  of  popular  rule. 
The  Provisional  Government,  created  and  put  forward  by  the 
Revolution,  strove  with  all  possible  speed  to  rest  upon  the 
organized  force  of  the  people,  on  organized  public  opinion. 
These  results  could  be  obtained  only  through  the  immediate 
introduction  of  popular  rule  from  the  bottom  to  the  very  top. 
In  rapid  succession  laws  were  passed  relating  to  the  Zem- 
stvo and  City  self-governments,  and  later  the  Election  law 
for  the  All-Russian  Constituent  Assembly.  The  Russian  peo- 
ple began  with  feverish  haste  to  rebuild  its  life  upon  new 
foundations,  and  at  the  beginning  of  November  all  Russia  was 
covered  with  newly  elected  Zemstvo  and  City  self-govern- 
ment systems.  The  newly  constructed  edifice  required  only  a 
roof — the  Constituent  Assembly — to  complete  it.  The  Bol- 
shevist overturn,  however,  destroyed  everything.  The  Con- 
stituent Assembly  was  dispersed  and  the  Zcmstvos  were 
closed.  In  many  places  bayonets  were  used  to  drive  out  the 
Zemstvo  workers  from  their  places  and  to  substitute  the  new 
rule  of  the  so-called  Soviets. 

In  accordance  with  the  law  passed  by  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment on  May  21,  1917,  the  administration  of  all  local 
"needs  and  uses"  was  entrusted  to  the  people  through  organs 
elected  on  the  basis  of  a  universal,  direct,  equal  and  secret  vote 
— the  Zemstvos.  These  were  divided  into  four  classes :  town- 
ship (volost).  county  (ooyezd),  government  (gubernia),  and 
territorial  (oblast).  The  township  unit  comprised  the  admin- 
istration of  several  villages ;  the  county  unit  covered  a  few 
scores  of  townships,  the  government  unit  a  number  of  coun- 
ties, and  the  territorial — a  number  of  governments,  thus  form- 


16  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


ing  an  unbroken  line  of  concentrated  circuits  of  activity.  All 
the  Zemstvos  were,  furthermore,  allowed  to  get  together  on 
working  terms  in  order  to  prosecute  their  plans  more  effect- 
ively for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  In  the  elections  to  the 
Zemstvos  all  citizens  above  the  age  of  20,  without  distinction 
of  sex,  religion  or  nationality,  could  participate. 

The  fact  is  that  never  in  Russia,  and  for  that  matter  in 
any  other  country  in  the  world,  was  there  witnessed  such  an 
eagerness  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  participate  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  new,  liberated  life.  Practically  everybody 
voted ;  in  some  places  the  number  of  voters  reached  90  per 
cent,  of  the  eligible  part  of  the  population,  and  the  average  all 
over  the  country  was  about  80  per  cent.  Owing  to  the  adop- 
tion of  the  proportional  system  of  representation,  nearly  every 
shade  of  popular  opinion  was  represented  in  these  administra- 
tive organs,  but  the  majority  was  held  by  the  toiling  masses, 
the  peasantry  and  the  workmen.  It  was,  indeed,  in  the  truest 
sense  of  the  word,  a  popular  representation.  The  people  had 
won  the  right  to  be  the  masters  of  their  own  destiny  and  they 
wanted  to  exercise  this  right. 

The  sphere  of  jurisdiction  of  the  new  Zemstvo  institutions 
covered  all  that  could  generally  be  termed  as  "local  needs 
and  uses,"  and,  in  particular,  was  as  follows : 

(1)  The  care,  within  the  territory  of  the  given  Zemstvo, 
of  education, — lower,  secondary  and  higher, — with  the  cooper- 
ation of  the  All-Russian  Ministry  of  Education, 

(2)  The  care  of  the  popular  health,  the  development  of 
medical  aid  and  hygiene  and  the  spread  of  its  knowledge 
among  the  masses. 

(3)  The  care  of  orphans,  the  sick,  the  injured,  the  aged 
and  also  of  soldiers  who  had  been  incapacitated  in  the  war. 

(4)  The  organization  and  coordination  of  the  local  courts, 
elected  by  the  Zemstvo  assemblies. 

(5)  The  organization  and  coordination  of  labor  markets, 
and  the  introduction  of  mediation  and  employment  agencies 
for  the  hire  of  agricultural  help. 

(6)  The  development  and  care  of  local  ways  of  communica- 


Mir,  Zemslvo  and  Soviet  17 

tion,  canals,  the  building  of  central  and   village  roads  and 
branch  by-roads. 

(7)  The  collection  of  State  taxes. 

(8)  The  administration  of  the  Land  Fund,  etc.,  etc. 

Practically  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  cultural  and  eco- 
nomic life  of  the  Russian  people  were  embodied  in  this  plan 
and  entrusted  to  the  rule  of  the  people.  A  wide  field  was 
opened  for  popular  initiative  and  activity,  limited  only  by 
the  general  and  necessary  principles  of  legality. 

The  law  establishing  the  new  Zemstvo  institutions  did  not, 
at  the  same  time,  forget  the  old  Russian  village  institution, 
our  peasant  "Mir."  Resting  upon  the  will  of  the  people  and 
trusting  in  its  power,  the  Provisional  Government  did  not 
destroy  this  "Mir,"  but  took  steps  to  connect  it,  through  land 
commissions,  with  the  chain  of  popularly-elected  Zemstvo 
organs.  It  upheld  the  right  of  the  peasants  to  assemble  to 
decide  their  land  questions,  extended  the  right  of  participa- 
tion in  the  "Mir"  to  the  women  of  the  village  and  delegated 
to  the  "Mir"  executive  power  in  the  form  of  the  "land  com- 
missioners." These  commissions  were  charged,  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  duty  of  preparing  all  material  for  the  great 
land  reform  which  was  to  transfer  the  land  permanently  into 
the  hands  of  the  people,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  with  adjudi- 
cating all  incidents  and  friction  arising  between  the  land  own- 
ers and  the  communal  lot  holders.  Thus  the  "Mir,"  the 
"Zemstvo,"  the  city  "Dumas,"  crowned  by  the  Constituent 
Assembly,  were  to  represent  the  great  self-governing  Russia. 

But  fate  had  decreed  otherwise.  Instead  of  a  great  Rus- 
sia, we  have  an  impoverished  one ;  instead  of  a  self-governing 
one — we  see  her  groaning  under  the  coarse  heel  and  bayonet 
of  the  Red  Guardsman ;  instead  of  freedom,  we  see  her  under 
the  yoke  of  new  emperors,  Lenine  and  Trotsky,  and  new  bu- 
reaucratic institutions  under  the  name  of  Soviets.  What  are 
the  Soviets? 

In  my  article  "The  Soviets  in  Russia"  I  have  already 
pointed  out  that  the  Soviets  originated  during  the  Revolution 
of  1905,  were  afterwards  speedily  crushed  by  the  Tzar's  Gov- 
ernment, but  reappeared  again  in  1917  as  revolutionary  organs 


18  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


which  aimed  to  organize  the  revolutionary  sentiment  among 
the  masses  of  the  Russian  people,  to  support  the  Provisional 
Government  in  its  efforts  to  rebuild  Russia's  life  on  new  foun- 
dations, to  help  the  Russian  people  organize  organs  of  self- 
rule, — and  upon  their  organization  to  retire  from  the  field. 

The  Bolshevist  coup  d'etat  overturned  everything,  and  the 
Soviets,  from  a  temporary  revolutionary  organ  have  become, 
in  accordance  with  the  Bolshevist  constitution,  a  permanent, 
not  only  legislative,  but  also  an  executive,  judicial,  revolution- 
ary and  propagandist  (world-revolution)  organ.  In  a  word, 
it  offers  everything  your  heart  desires  and  is  a  political  Jack 
of  all  trades. 

In  accordance  with  the  so-called  constitution  of  the  Sov- 
iets, these  are  being  elected  by  the  citizens  of  the  Russian 
"Socialist  Republic,"  now  18  months  old,  at  me'etings  of  the 
various  villages  or  factories.  The  method  of  elections  is  not 
defined  in  the  constitution  and  is  determined  by  the  local  Sov- 
iets at  their  own  sweet  will.  In  these  elections,  according  to 
the  constitution,  only  such  citizens  who  make  their  living  by 
their  ow^n  labor  may  participate.  All  merchants,  middlemen, 
persons  with  any  income,  persons  connected  with  the  Church 
in  any  capacity,  all  who  have  been  in  the  service  of  the  police 
department  under  the  old  regime,  are  barred  from  voting, 
and  likewise,  all  who  employ  hired  labor  for  purposes  of  profit- 
making.  As  this  last  clause  is  ambiguously  worded,  the  local 
Soviets  have  been  barring  from  the  elections  everyone  who 
employs  even  a  house  servant,  practically  all  professionals 
and  intellectuals.  To  these  classes  of  the  population  deprived 
of  the  vote,  according  to  the  constitution,  the  Bolshevist 
practice  adds  also  all  those  who  do  not  accept  the  Soviet  rule, 
that  means,  the  entire  Russian  "intelligentsia,"  and  among  the 
latter  almost  all  the  public  school  teachers,  the  best  and  the 
most  devoted  friends  the  Russian  people  have  ever  had. 

The  Bolshevist  "Socialist  Republic"  does  not  recognize  the 
principles  of  universal  or  equal  suffrage,  neither  does  it  recog- 
nize direct  elections,  as  the  lower  Soviets  elect  the  higher,  the 
higher  elect  the  county  (ooyezd)  Soviets,  the  county  elect 
the  government  Soviets,  and  the  government  Soviets  elect  the 


Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet  19 

All-Russian.  The  Soviet  constitution  does  not  recognize  the 
secret  ballot.  The  voting  takes  place  in  the  open  and  is  con- 
ducted by  the  raising  of  hands.  The  Soviet  constitution  does 
not  recognize  the  principle  of  proportional  representation  and, 
therefore,  only  the  voice  of  the  partisans  of  the  Soviet  rule 
may  be  heard  in  the  Soviets. 

Such  is  the  legal  aspect,  the  political  side  of  the  situation. 
The  actual  situation  is,  however,  much  worse.  The  Russian 
peasant  could,  in  all  fairness,  scarcely  be  suspected  of  being 
a  capitalist,  and  even  according  to  the  Soviet  constitution,  no 
matter  how  twisted,  he  could  not  be  denied  a  vote.  But  fully 
aware  that  the  peasants  constitute  a  majority  and  are,  as  a 
whole,  opposed  to  the  Bolsheviki,  the  latter  have  destroyed 
the  Soviets  in  the  villages  and  instead  of  these  they  have 
created  so-called  "Committees  of  the  Poor,"  i.e.,  aggregations 
of  inebriates,  propertyless,  worthless  and  work-hating  peas- 
ants. For,  whoever  wishes  to  work  can  find  work  in  the 
Russian  village  which  is  always  short  of  agricultural  help. 
These  "Committees  of  the  Poor"  have  been  delegated  to  repre- 
sent the  peasantry  of  Russia. 

Small  wonder  that  the  peasants  are  opposed  to  this  scheme 
which  has  robbed  them  of  self-government.  Small  wonder 
that  their  hatred  for  these  "organizations"  reaches  such  a 
stage  that  entire  settlements  are  rising  against  these  Soviets 
and  their  pretorians,  the  Red  Guardsmen,  and  in  their  fury 
are  not  only  murdering  these  Soviet  officials,  but  are  practicing 
fearful  cruelties  upon  them,  as  happened  in  December,  1918, 
in  the  governments  of  Pskov,  Kaluga  and  Tver. 

By  removing  and  arresting  all  those  delegates  who  are 
undesirable  to  them,  the  Bolsheviki  have  converted  these  Sov- 
iets into  organizations  loyal  to  themselves,  and  of  course,  fear 
to  think  of  a  true  general  election,  for  that  will  seal  their 
doom  at  once. 

I  shall  not  dwell  longer  on  the  further  description  of  the 
Soviets  and  refer  the  reader  to  my  previous  article.  I  will 
now  attempt  to  draw  up  a  summary  of  what  we  have  stated 
above. 


20  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


Historically,  the  "Mir"  was  born  in  the  Russian  village  to 
solve  land  problems  and  relations,  and  as  such  it  was  incor- 
porated in  the  Law  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  May  20, 
1917,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Russian  Zemstvo  institutions. 
The  Zemstvo  institutions  were  created  in  1864,  as  a  conces- 
sion of  the  Tzar's  Government  to  the  popular  movement,  with 
a  jurisdiction  over  certain  local  "wants  and  uses."  After  the 
law  of  the  Provisional  Government  was  passed,  the  Zemstvo 
institutions,  in  the  form  of  township,  county,  government  and 
territorial  units,  covered  all  Russia,  with  jurisdiction  over  all 
the  cultural  and  economic  interests  of  the  Russian  people. 
The  Soviets  first  came  into  being  in  1905,  and  developed  in 
1917  as  revolutionary  organs  aiming  at  the  protection  of  the 
gains  of  the  Revolution  and  the  aiding  of  the  Provisional 
Government  in  establishing  Russian  life  on  the  basis  of  popu- 
lar rule. 

Politically,  the  "Mir"  was  a  popular  assembly  of  the  hold- 
ers of  land  lots  in  a  village  where  the  system  of  land  allot- 
ment prevailed.  The  Zemstvos  were  organs  of  the  popular 
will,  elected  on  the  basis  of  universal,  direct,  equal,  secret 
and  proportional  suffrage.  The  Soviets,  according  to  the  So- 
viet constitution,  are  class  organizations,  a  dictatorship  of 
the  proletariat,  elected  by  limited,  indirect,  unequal,  open 
and  not  proportional  suffrage,  i.e.,  elections  conducted  in  full 
disregard  of  all  democratic  and  Socialist  principles. 

Practically,  the  "Mir"  concerned  itself  only  with  land  and 
kindred  problems  in  the  peasant  village.  The  Zemstvo,  how- 
ever, was  the  actual  free  expression  of  the  general  will  of 
the  people  and  was  charged  with  the  construction  and  re- 
generation of  Russian  life  on  the  foundations  of  right  and 
liberty.  The  Soviets  have  degenerated  into  narrow,  bureau- 
cratic class  organizations,  brazenly  trampling  upon  all  the 
rights  of  civil  freedom.  Instead  of  liberty — license,  instead  of 
legality — lawlessness,  instead  of  democracy — tyranny,  and  in- 
stead of  social  peace — civil  war,  assault,  homicide  and  rivers 
of  blood. 


The  Bolshevist  Economic  PoHcy 

BY  this  time  it  is  well  known  that  after  having  proclaimed 
a  "Socialist  state"  in  Russia,  the  Bolsheviki  have 
brought  the  industrial  and  commercial  life  of  Russia  to 
a  state  of  bankruptcy.  We  shall  not  dwell  here  on  the  horrors 
of  starvation  which  the  inhabitants  of  Russian  cities  are  ex- 
periencing; we  shall  not  touch  upon  the  awful  rate  of  mor- 
tality which  is  afflicting  the  "paradise  of  the  Soviet  Republic"; 
we  shall  only  marshal  before  the  reader  a  few  illustrations  of 
the  economic  policies  of  the  Soviet  rule  and  their  consequences. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  the  Bolsheviki 
have  nationalized  Russia's  industries.  In  place  of  the  former 
executive  Directors  of  enterprises,  there  were  appointed  "com- 
missaries," and  in  the  factories,  works  and  foundries  there 
were  introduced  so-called  "business  Soviets,"  local  administra- 
tive and  managerial  agencies,  elected  by  the  workers  of  the 
local  industry  or  mining  district.  These  "business  Soviets" 
had  no  connection  with  the  "commissary,"  who,  according  to 
the  decrees,  was  to  take  the  place  of  the  executive  Director 
of  former  days  and  to  manage  the  financing  and  coordinating 
of  the  entire  productivity  of  a  given  industrial  district.  The 
financial  link  between  the  central  and  the  district  authorities, 
regardless  of  all  efforts  of  the  so-called  "Supreme  Soviet  of 
National  Economy,"  consisted  only  in  continuous  and  unceas- 
ing demands  on  the  part  of  the  district  Soviet  for  money, 
money  and  more  money. 

No  accounting,  no  planning  of  production  and  distribu- 
tion was  in  existence.  There  were  only  advance  budgets  and 
expense  lists.  I'he  expenditures  grew  colossally  while  the 
productivity  declined  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  growth  of  ex- 
penses. Consider,  for  instance,  the  Kishtym  district  in  the 
Urals,  one  of  the  richest  copper  districts  in  Russia,  which  pro- 
duced, until  taken  over  by  the  Soviet,  about  one-third  of  all 
the  copper  mined  in  Russia,  600,000  poods  (1  "pood" — 36 
pounds)  annually,  or  50,000  poods  a  month.  During  the  Bol- 
shevist administration,  from  December  1917  to  June  1918,  a 
period  of  6  months,  the  district's  output  was  48,000  poods, 


22  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


i.e.,  the  production  fell  to  8,000  poods  a  month — a  decline 
of  over  600  per  cent.  Simultaneously,  the  expenses,  with  the 
same  number  of  workers  employed,  grew  from  650,000  roubles 
to  5  million  roubles  per  month — approximately  770  per  cent. 
The  cost  of  producing  a  pood  of  copper,  therefore,  rose  from 
18  roubles  to  88,  while  the  fixed  market  price  of  copper  re- 
mained 32  roubles  per  pood.  In  other  words,  every  pood  of 
copper  produced  represented  a  loss  of  56  roubles. 

Can  any  industrial  enterprise  exist  under  such  conditions 
in  normal  times?  Of  course,  not.  Every  owner  prudent  in 
the  least  would  close  up  an  enterprise  like  that  at  once.  Even 
the  Bolsheviki,  after  wasting  several  billions  of  roubles  in 
the  Urals,  were  forced  to  close  up  many  foundries,  as  even 
their  tireless  printing  presses  could  not  keep  pace  with  the 
colossal  amounts  required  for  the  pay-rolls  of  the  workers. 
After  the  Bolsheviki  were  driven  out  of  the  Urals,  the  Pro- 
visional Government  of  the  Ural  Region  found  in  operation 
only  46  foundries  instead  of  the  150  that  were  active  before 
the  coming  of  the  Bolsheviki.  The  others  were  closed  down 
either  on  account  of  lack  of  money,  or  for  absence  of  materials. 
The  remaining  foundries  were  barely  existing,  selling  the 
product  most  in  demand — iron,  which  increased  in  price  from  5 
roubles  80  kopecks  to  30  roubles  per  pood. 

Another  example :  The  Nadeshdin  Works  in  the  Bogoslov 
mining  district,  one  of  the  most  important  iron-ore  districts 
in  the  Urals,  with  its  9  dynamos  and  6  Martens  furnaces, 
yielded  annually  12  million  poods  of  iron.  In  January,  1918, 
only  6  dynamos  were  working,  in  February  only  5,  from 
March  to  May  only  3,  and  by  the  end  of  September,  1918,  the 
works  were  closed  down.  There  was  no  ore,  no  coal,  no 
manganese-ore  left.  The  old  stores  had  been  consumed,  and 
the  population  was  left  without  work  and  food,  to  famish 
and  die  from  hunger  and  typhus.  My  father,  a  weigher  in 
the  Bogoslov  coal  mines,  wrote  me  that  they  were  devouring 
dogs  and  cats  and  were  making  bread  of  a  mixture  of  oats 
and  willow  bark. 

A  third  example :  The  Cheliabinsk  coal  mines,  which  until 
"nationalization"  had  had  an  output  of  60  million  poods  a 


The  Bolshevist  Economic  Policy  23 

year, — 5  millions  monthly, — had  yielded  from  January  to  May, 
1918,  an  average  of  150,000  poods  per  month.  The  average 
number  of  shifts  fell  from  25  to  8  a  month,  and  the  48- 
hour-week  was  thus  reduced  to  8  hours. 

And  so  everywhere.  A  colossal  decline  in  production  and 
a  corresponding  increase  in  expenditures.  The  State  was  con- 
verted into  a  pension  fund  and  the  workers  into  pension  bene- 
ficiaries. If  this  is  what  "socialistic"  happiness  amounts  to, 
you  can  readily  understand  our  attitude  towards  such  experi- 
ments in  "socialization."  Instead  of  developing  the  produc- 
tive forces,  the  Soviet  government  not  only  remained  sta- 
tionary, but  even  retrogressed  a  great  distance.  In  place  of 
progress  came  reaction,  and  in  place  of  construction,  neglect 
and  destruction  everywhere.  We  must  also  bear  in  mind  that 
in  most  of  the  Ural  districts  the  mine-pits  are  inundated,  the 
mines  dilapidated,  the  machinery  rusty,  decayed  and  rendered 
useless,  the  dams  broken  through  and  the  turbines  gone  to 
smash. 

Such  is  the  outward  aspect  of  "socialization"  and  "nation- 
alization" and  the  sum  total  of  a  heralded  "development  of 
productive  forces"  and  an  "intensification  of  labor."  The  in- 
ward state  of  afifairs  is,  however,  still  more  deplorable.  Sheer, 
naked  lawlessness  took  the  place  of  the  former  esteem  for 
labor  and  its  demand  for  normal,  legitimate  and  all-around  de- 
velopment." Playing  on  the  lower  instincts  of  our  ignorant 
and  unenlightened  proletariat  and  filling  up  minds  yet  imma- 
ture with  such  slogans  as  "Rob  the  robbers!"  "Exterminate 
the  bourgeoisie  and  its  hangers-on !"  the  Russian  working 
masses  swung  wildly  around  and  shook  off  all  restraint.  Some 
of  the  worst  types  turned  to  plundering  and  to  lugging  home 
from  the  factories  everything  and  anything  they  could  lay 
hands  upon:  glasses,  thermometers,  strips  of  iron,  nails,  lamps, 
etc.  The  heart  is  gripped  with  pain  at  these  thoughts.  But, 
facts  are  facts.  The  result  was  a  veritable  burglarization  of 
the  national  wealth. 

Yet  this  was  not  the  worst  feature  of  the  situation.  There 
always  has  been  theft  and  robbery  in  this  world,  but  it  ac- 
quired its  ugliest  aspects  in  this  so-called  "socialistic  order." 


24  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


The  Bolsheviki  have  soiled  the  minds  of  the  working  masses 
and  have  intensified  in  them  a  hatred  for  clean-appearing,  or 
educated  people.  Workers  would  often  fly  into  a  mad  frenzy 
under  the  influence  of  the  harangues  of  their  orators  and 
would  seize  the  engineers  around  the  mines  as  "hangers-on 
of  the  bourgeoisie"  and  drag  them  for  a  reckoning  to  the 
nearest  pit,  and  few  were  the  occasions,  indeed,  when  the 
lives  of  these  innocent  men  were  saved  from  destruction. 

By  their  persecutions  they  have  estranged  and  made  ene- 
mies of  the  intellectual  forces  of  the  country.  They  have 
dug  a  deep  chasm  between  themselves  and  the  intellectuals 
and  have  thus  deprived  themselves  of  the  services  of  science 
and  knowledge.  The  guilt,  however,  lies  not  with  the  work- 
ers, but  with  those  who  have  taken  advantage  of  their  ignor- 
ance and  have  stirred  them  on  to  these  acts  of  shame.  In- 
stead of  respect  for  human  life, — hatred,  viciousness  and  be- 
wilderment developed  in  the  blessed  "Socialistic  republic"  of 
the  Bolsheviki. 

Thus,  instead  of  an  organized  national  economy  we  have 
complete  disorganization,  and  instead  of  the  socialization  of 
production  and  distribution — a  wild  semblance  of  syndicalism. 
Each  "business  Soviet"  was  deciding  things  for  itself  without 
regard  to,  or  taking  account  of  the  general  industrial  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  often  without  knowing  the  limits  and  re- 
sources of  their  own  districts.  As  a  result,  we  see  throughout 
Russia  stagnation  of  industry,  mass  unemployment,  intensified 
enlisting  in  the  Red  Army,  as  the  only  place  where  food  and 
wages  are  secure,  while  the  country  is  flooded  with  scraps  of 
paper  blustering  about  "social  provision  for  the  working 
class"  and  the  "socialistic  solution  of  the  labor  problem." 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia 

OUR  program,  our  aim  in  the  struggle  against  the  Bol- 
sheviki,  in  the  struggle  of  democracy  against  tyranny, 
embodies  the  aims  of  all  who  have  the  interests  of 
our  people  at  heart  and  who  are  eager  to  return  Russia  to  the 
unswerving  path  of  democratic  development.  Outside  of  the 
pale  of  democracy  and  without  democracy  and  its  aims,  Russia 
cannot  again  become  a  great  and  powerful  country. 

Among  the  fundamental  questions  that  concern  Russia  at 
present,  among  the  cardinal  problems  upon  the  solution  of 
which  the  tranquillity  of  the  country  and  its  peaceful  advance 
on  the  road  of  progress  and  prosperity  depend — the  most  im- 
portant and  most  difficult  one  is,  of  course,  the  land  problem. 

The  land  question  was  a  basic  one  during  the  regime  of  the 
Autocracy.  It  retained  its  importance  during  the  Revolution 
and  will  remain  a  cardinal  question  until  it  is  finally  settled  by 
the  All-Russian  Constituent  Assembly.  Its  importance  rests 
not  alone  in  the  fact  that  75  per  cent,  of  Russia's  population 
live  by  agriculture,  and  that  the  development  of  the  productive 
forces  of  our  country  depends  upon  the  satisfactory  solution  of 
this  problem,  but  equally  in  that  the  entire  political  future  of 
Russia  is  predicated  upon  its  final  disposition.  For,  not  until 
the  Russian  peasantry  is  satisfied  that  an  equitable  and  just 
answer  is  given  to  its  most  immediate  and  pressing  demand 
— the  land — is  any  political  order  and  organized  governmental 
activity  possible. 

The  Russian  Revolution  of  March,  1917,  was  inaugurated 
under  a  banner  upon  which  were  inscribed  not  only  demands 
for  political  liberties,  but  also  demands  for  socialistic  reform 
and,  particularly,  for  a  basic  change  in  the  land  relations, — 
the  transfer  of  the  land  to  the  peasantry  living  and  toiling 
upon  it  in  the  sweat  of  its  brow.  All  classes  in  Russia  clearly 
understood  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  that  the  time 
had  come  to  pay  the  old  debt  the  country  owed  to  the  peas- 
antry, and  even  the  large  landowners,  whose  interests  were 
most  aflfected  by  this  problem,  declared  through  their  spokes- 
man, the  large  Pskov  landowner,  the  President  of  the  Fourth 


26  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


Duma,  Michael  Rodzianko,  in  reply  to  interrogations  by  peas- 
ants during  the  Revolution :  "Yes,  we  admit  that  the  funda- 
mental problem  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  is  not  merely  to 
construct  a  political  system  for  Russia,  but  likewise  to  give 
back  to  the  peasantry  the  land  which  is  at  present  in  our 
hands."  The  Russian  Provisional  Government,  under  Lvov, 
as  well  as  under  Kerensky,  never  for  a  moment  lost  sight  of 
this  question  and  was  gradually  accumulating  data  and  clear- 
ing the  way  for  the  coming  Constituent  Assembly  to  meet 
the  just  demands  of  the  Russian  village. 

This  article  will  endeavor  to  state  what  the ,  Provisional 
Government  did  in  this  regard  during  its  stay  at  the  helm  of 
affairs,  what  changes  in  land  relations  have  been  made  by 
the  Bolsheviki  during  their  reign  and,  lastly,  what  method  the 
newly-born  Russian  democracy  will  have  to  choose  in  the 
solution  of  this  problem  after  clearing  the  country  from  the 
Bolsheviki  and  until  the  new  Constituent  Assembly  is  con- 
voked. 

Having  faithfully  promised  the  people  to  lead  the  country 
to  the  very  day  of  the  opening  of  the  Constituent  Assembly, 
the  Russian  Provisional  Government  kept  its  word  honorably 
and  did  everything  in  its  power  and  all  that  was  feasible 
under  war  conditions  and  the  chaos  and  disorder  inherited 
from  the  deceased  Autocracy.  Certainly,  it  did  not  forget  to 
meet  its  obligation — the  gradual  solution  of  the  agrarian  prob- 
lem in  its  fullest  sense.  The  path  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment in  this  respect  was  particularly  beset  with  diflficulties.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  question  of  allotting  the  land  to 
the  peasants,  of  the  redivision  of  land  properties  was  a  very 
complex  one  in  the  exigencies  of  the  Russian  Revolution,  for 
more  than  one  reason.  The  Provisional  Government  could 
not  declare  a  final  disposition  of  this  problem  until  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  and  the  mass  of  the  peas- 
antry, just  liberated  from  the  serfdom  of  the  Autocracy,  was 
constantly  advancing  and  pressing  this  very  problem  to  the 
fore. 

To  solve  the  problem  intelligently,  it  was  necessary  to 
gather  all  the  information  that  would  present  a  true  index 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia  27 

of  land-ownership  and  cultivation  and  to  conduct  a  thorough 
census  of  the  agricultural  economy  of  the  country.  Here  and 
there,  as  has  happened  in  every  Revolution, — in  the  Great 
French  Revolution,  for  instance, — there  took  place  local  set- 
tlements of  this  problem  by  "local  measures,"  or  plain,  simple 
acts  of  expropriation  of  land  by  the  peasants.  At  the  same 
time  the  army — still  composed  of  several  million  men — was  in- 
sistently demanding  food  and  provisions.  It  became  necessary, 
therefore,  to  direct  all  efforts  toward  the  maximum  increase  of 
the  land  area  under  cultivation  for  the  next  agricultural  sea- 
son, a  measure  which  could  be  accomplished  only  under  condi- 
tions of  peace  and  with  unity  of  purpose.  The  immediate  call 
for  the  Constituent  Assembly  made  it  incumbent  upon  the 
Government  to  complete  the  immense  task  of  preparing  the 
accumulated  material  for  final  disposition  by  the  Constituent 
Assembly.  Thus,  the  problem  presented  itself  in  its  full  mag- 
nitude and  complications,  and  the  Provisional  Government 
was  acquitting  itself  with  honors  in  all  the  difficulties  con- 
fronting it. 

In  the  first  place,  by  a  decree  of  March  15,  1917,  the  Pro- 
visional Government  transferred  all  the  land,  forests,  lakes  and 
rivers — amounting  to  four  million  desiatin* — which  had  for- 
merly belonged  to  the  Emperor,  to  the  Ministry  of  Agricul- 
ture as  State  property.  This  first  decree  served  as  a  forerun- 
ner in  this  direction.  The  recognition  as  national  property  of 
the  lands  of  one  of  Russia's  greatest  landowners,  the  Tzar, 
definitely  paved  the  way  for  the  further  recognition  of  the 
principle  that  the  land  is  the  national  property  of  Russia.  The 
age-long  desire  of  the  peasantry  to  obtain  ownership  of  the 
land,  a  cause,  perhaps,  nowhere  so  universally  advocated  as 
in  Russia — from  the  humblest  peasant  to  the  highly  cultured 
professor, — and  expressed  in  the  aphorism :  "The  soil  belongs 
to  no  one ;  the  soil  belongs  to  God ;  the  soil  belongs  to  the 
people,"  was  beginning  to  materialize. 

At  about  the  same  time,  desiring  to  provide  the  army  and 
the  population  of  the  cities  with  sufficient  foodstuffs,  the  Pro- 
visional Government,  two  weeks  after  it  was  swept  into  power. 


*  A  desiatin  equals  about  3  acres. 


28  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


with  the  aid  of  the  local  organs  of  self-government  and  the 
Councils  of  Deputies,  organized  Food  Commissions  all  over 
Russia.  In  order  to  intensify  the  cultivation  of  vacant  land 
areas,  the  Provisional  Government  next  conferred  upon  these 
Food  Commissions  the  right  to  cultivate  such  land  or  to  rent 
it  to  persons  ready  to  cultivate  it.  In  consequence  of  this 
order  many  landowners  who  had  curtailed  their  plowings  on 
account  of  the  high  cost  of  farm  help  were  compelled  to 
give  over  these  vacant  lands  to  peasants  who  were  willing  and 
ready  to  go  to  work  upon  it  at  once.  Later,  by  the  decree 
of  April  21,  1917,  the  Provisional  Government  instituted  Land 
Commissions  throughout  Russia,  in  every  township  (volost), 
county  (ooyezd)  and  government  (gubernia),  for  the  purpose 
of  gathering,  on  the  spot,  all  facts,  data  and  materials  pertain- 
ing to  local  land-ownership,  such  information  to  be  later  trans- 
mitted to  the  All-Russian  Land  Commission. 

In  my  article  "Mir,  Zemstvo  and  Soviet,"  I  have  already 
stated  that  one  of  the  purposes  of  these  Commissions  was  to 
endeavor  to  allay  local  friction  arising  from  land  problems, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  to  conduct  the  census  and  gather  the 
material  for  the  land  reforms  as  stated  above,  on  the  other 
hand.  These  Land  Commissions  remained,  until  the  subse- 
quent general  elections  of  Zemstvos,  independent  organs  of 
administration  of  land  problems.  They  were  being  elected 
in  the  townships,  by  the  village  "mirs";  the  conventions  of 
the  township  commissions  were  electing  the  commissions  for 
the  counties;  the  county  commissions  were  electing  the  guber- 
nia commissions,  and  the  latter — the  All-Russian  Commission. 

For  the  sake  of  achieving  greater  results,  the  Provisional 
Government  invited  into  the  All-Russian  Commission  the  best- 
known  authorities  and  experts  on  the  land  problem  in  Russia, 
such  as  Professor  A.  S.  Posnikov,  the  Chairman  of  the  Main 
Land  Commission ;  Professor  Kaufman ;  Professor  A.  P. 
Levitzky;  Professor  B.  B.  Veselovsky;  N.  N.  Chernenkov; 
N.  N.  Kutler;  Members  of  the  Duma  Dziubinsky  and  Volkov; 
Assistant  Minister  of  Agriculture  (of  the  old  regime)  A.  G. 
Krushov;  the  well-known  leader  of  the  Socialists-Revolution- 
ists, V.   M.   Chernov;  the  well-known  agrarian  experts  and 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia  29 

learned  economists,  A.  V.  Pieshekhonov,  P.  P.  Maslov,  S.  L. 
Maslov,  Vikhliaev,  Rakitnikov,  Oganovsky  and  many  others. 
The  Government  made  certain  that  the  flower  of  Russia's 
science  and  ability  was  represented  in  the  Main  Land  Com- 
mission, and  its  impartiality  was  attested  by  their  productive 
and  scientific  labors  permeated  with  a  spirit  of  justice  towards 
the  interests  of  the  people. 

I  cannot  dwell  in  detail  upon  the  work  of  these  Land  Com- 
missions, both  local  and  central.  I  may  only  say  that  thanks 
to  their  activity  the  Provisional  GovernmeTit  succeeded  in 
straightening  out  99  per  cent,  of  all  complications  that  had 
arisen  out  of  the  land  relations  and  in  the  preparation  of  the 
plan  for  the  great  Land  Reform.  It  likewise  was  successful 
in  passing  some  temporary  laws  for  the  regulation  of  land 
problems  during  the  transitory  period  of  the  Revolution, 
which  marked  the  way  for  the  final  solution. 

During  the  course  of  the  Revolution  and  its  forward  move- 
ment, as  popular  demands  were  maturing  and  coming  to  the 
fore,  our  landowners  were  beginning  to  realize  that  they  were 
to  part  with  the  land  and  that  the  coming  Constituent  As- 
sembly would,  without  doubt,  declare  the  land  the  people's 
property,  and  that  the  most  they  might  expect  would  be  small 
money  indemnities.  (It  must  be  noted  that  the  majority  of 
Russian  landed  estates  were  not  purchased,  but  were  "granted 
by  the  Tzars  for  faithful  service"  to  this  or  the  other  noble- 
man.) In  order  to  obtain  a  greater  value  for  their  holdings, 
some  of  these  landowners  began  to  sell  out  their  lands  at 
once  and  to  parcel  it  out  or  to  transfer  it  fictitiously  to  for- 
eigners. This  created  a  definite  menace  to  the  future  pre- 
rogative of  the  Constituent  Assembly  to  solve  freely  the  great, 
centuries-old  question  in  the  interests  of  the  people.  It  was 
clear  that  the  Russian  State  could,  in  accordance  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  international  law,  only  dispose  of  and  have  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  lands  of  its  own  citizens.  In  order  to  safeguard 
the  rights  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  and  to  halt  the  land 
speculation,  by  the  decree  of  July  12th,  1917,  the  Provisional 
Government  forbade  all  land  transactions.  The  transfer  of 
title  to  property  outside  of  city  limits,  according  to  this  decree, 


30  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


was  only  permitted  with  the  consent  of  the  local  Land  Com- 
mission, and  subsequent  confirmation,  in  each  case,  by  the 
Minister  of  Agriculture.  Lands  which  had  to  be  sold  at  public 
auction  were  given  over  to  the  temporary  control  of  the 
State  Banks  of  the  Peasants  and  of  the  Nobility. 

This  decree  of  the  Provisional  Government,  adopted  upon 
the  recommendation  of  the  Main  Land  Commission,  practically 
destroyed  land  speculation  and  obviated  the  difficulties  that 
might  have  arisen  from  it  for  the  Constituent  Assembly.  Pro- 
ceeding on  its  way  of  safeguarding  the  rights  of  the  people  in 
the  solution  of  the  land  question  and  desiring  to  emancipate  it- 
self from  the  old  bureaucratic  form  of  administration  and  to 
bring  the  free,  untrammelled  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
country  to  the  Constituent  Assembly,  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment transferred  to  the  Zemstvos,  just  as  soon  as  these  Zem- 
stvos  were  elected  and  organized  all  over  Russia,  all  questions 
pertaining  to  agrarian  relations.  Having  taken  into  account 
the  paramount  desire  of  the  peasant  masses  for  the  realization 
of  agrarian  reforms,  and  foreseeing  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  create  a  number  of  organs  to  carry  out  these  reforms,  the 
Provisional  Government,  with  the  purpose  of  directing  this 
reform  into  definite  channels,  by  the  law  of  October  20,  1917, 
transferred  the  control  of  all  cultivated  lands  to  the  authority 
of  the  Land  Commissions,  except  in  places  where  the  new 
Zemstvos  were  already  organized.  In  the  latter  instance  they 
were  to  be  supervised  by  the  Land  Offices  of  these  Zemstvos. 

The  historic  feature  of  Russian  peasant  life — the  self-gov- 
ernment of  the  village  population  and  the  handling  of  all 
local  land  afifairs  in  a  democratic  way — thus  took  on  juristic 
form.  It  ofifered  the  peasantry,  at  the  same  time,  the  oppor- 
tunity to  become  convinced  that  the  agrarian  problem  was 
being  marked  for  solution  in  a  way  most  favorable  for  the 
peasantry.  A  further  decree,  issued  by  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment only  a  few  days  before  its  overthrow,  granted  to  the 
local  organs  of  self-government  in  coordination  with  the  Forest 
Commissions,  the  control  of  State  and  private  forests. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  basis  of  the  information  obtained 
through  the  Census  made  in  the  summer  of  1917  by  the  Min- 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia  31 

istry  of  Agriculture,  bearing  on  land  values  throughout  Russia, 
the  material  gathered  by  local  Land  Commissions  and  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  these  Commissions  representing  the  will  and 
needs  of  the  people,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  programs  of  the 
various  Russian  political  parties,  the  Main  Land  Commission, 
at  the  time  of  its  dispersal  by  the  Bolsheviki,  had  succeeded  in 
preparing  a  bill  for  the  fundamental  Land  Reform  and  transi- 
tory measures  for  its  practical  enactment.  In  its  principal 
features,  embodied  in  the  first  ten  paragraphs,  this  bill  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  Constituent  Assembly  on  January  5,  1918.  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  the  adoption  of  the  entire  bill,  as  well  as 
the  transitory  regulations  guiding  the  change  from  the  old 
to  the  new  system,  could  not  be  acted  upon  by  the  Assembly, 
as  it  was  dispersed  by  the  Red  Guards.  The  great  Land  Re- 
form thus  failed  to  receive  a  proper  legal  expression,  and  the 
land  project  did  not  become  a  law. 

The  first  ten  paragraphs  of  the  Land  Bill,  adopted  by  the 
Constituent  Assembly  and  v/hich  had  a  tremendous  influence 
on  the  subsequent  development  of  land  relations,  read  as  fol- 
lows : 

In  the  name  of  the  peoples  of  the  Russian  State,  compos- 
ing the  All-Russian  Constituent  Assembly,  be  it  ordained 
that: 

1.  Right  of  ownership  to  land  within  the  limits  of  the  Rus- 
sian Republic  is  henceforth  and  forever  abolished. 

2.  All  lands  contained  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Russian 
Republic  with  all  their  underground  wealth,  forests  and  waters 
become  the  property  of  the  people. 

3.  The  control  of  all  lands,  the  surface  and  under  the  sur- 
face, and  all  forests  and  waters  belongs  to  the  Republic,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  forms  of  its  central  administrative  organs  and 
organs  of  local  self-government  on  the  principles  enacted  by 
this  law. 

4.  Those  territories  of  the  Russian  Republic  which  are  au- 
tonomous in  a  juridico-governmcntal  conception,  are  to  realize 
their  agrarian  plans  on  the  basis  of  this  law  and  in  accord  with 
the  Federal  Constitution. 

5.  The  aims  of  the  governmental  forces  and  the  organs  o< 


32  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


local  self-government  in  the  sphere  of  the  control  of  lands, 
underground  riches,  forests  and  waters  constitute :  (a)  The 
creation  of  conditions  most  favorable  to  the  greater  exploita- 
tion of  the  natural  w^ealth  of  the  land  and  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  productive  forces ;  (b)  The  equitable  distribution  of  all 
natural  w^ealth  among  the  population. 

6.  The  right  of  any  person  or  institution  to  land,  under- 
ground resources,  forests  and  w^aters  is  limited  only  to  the 
utilization  thereof. 

7.  All  citizens  of  the  Russian  Republic,  and  also  unions  of 
such  citizens  and  States  and  social  institutions,  may  become 
users  of  land,  underground  resources,  forests  and  M^aters,  v^ith- 
out  regard  to  nationality  or  religion, 

8.  The  land-rights  of  such  users  are  to  be  obtained,  become 
effective  and  cease  under  the  terms  laid  dow^n  by  this  law. 

9.  Land  rights  belonging  at  present  to  private  persons, 
groups  and  institutions,  in  so  far  as  they  conflict  with  this  law, 
are  herewith  abrogated. 

10.  The  transformation  of  all  lands,  underground  strata, 
forests  and  waters,  belonging  at  present  to  private  persons, 
groups  or  institutions,  into  popular  property  is  to  be  made 
without  recoupment  to  such  owners. 

Thus,  the  labors  of  the  Provisional  Government  and  all  the 
work  of  the  Land  Commissions  and  the  organs  of  local  self- 
government  was  almost  completed.  It  remained  only  for 
the  people,  through  their  representatives  in  the  Constituent 
Assembly,  to  give  the  Land  Reform  its  final  legal  shape  and 
form.  Unfortunately,  the  usurpation  of  the  Bolsheviki  halted 
this  work,  and  we,  Russians,  are  still  facing  this  great  prob- 
lem unsolved. 

After  the  dispersal  of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  the  Bol- 
sheviki, fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  unless  they  proclaimed 
the  transfer  of  the  land  to  the  toiling  masses  of  the  peasantry, 
they  could  not  maintain  themselves  in  power,  issued  a  decree 
about  the  socialization  of  land. 

A  theoretical  discussion  of  this  Bolshevist  decree  would 
take  us  too  far  afield.  Its  practical  results,  however,  were 
nil,  as  the  peasantry  completely  ignored  it.    The  peasants  did 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia  33 

not  take  stock  in  the  proclamation  of  the  Soviets,  as  they  had 
not  participated,  as  a  mass,  in  their  elections,  owing  to  the 
remarkable  voting  excesses  committed  by  the  Bolsheviki,  ex- 
cesses which  I  have  recited  in  a  previous  article.  Moreover, 
having  decreed  the  "basic  land  law,"  the  Bolsheviki  were  not 
capable  of  organizing  the  transfer  of  the  land  on  the  basis  of 
even  this  decree.  They  corrupted  the  minds  of  the  masses 
with  such  slogans  as :  "Take  whatever  you  can  lay  your 
hands  on !"  and,  consequently,  they  were  no  longer  in  a  posi- 
tion to  lend  their  sanction  to  any  "juristic"  forms.  Their  de- 
cree, therefore, — aside  from  the  fact  that  every  basic  law  must 
essentially  be  a  declaration  of  certain  definite  principles, — re- 
mained only  on  paper. 

What  actually  happened  was  that  the  peasantry  took  the 
land  from  the  landowners  and  divided  it  among  themselves, 
in  some  instances  in  the  spirit  of  the  transitory  rules  and 
measures  which  were  part  of  the  Land  Reform  Commission, 
wherever  these  rules  were  known;  but,  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  as  long  as  the  local  Land  Commissions  continued  in 
existence  (they  were  soon  also  dispersed  by  the  Bolsheviki), 
these  Commissions  divided  the  land  on  the  basis  of  the  infor- 
mation which  each  Commission  had  in  its  possession.  Fre- 
quently, however,  this  division  was  a  case  of  first  come,  first 
grab. 

Generally  speaking,  it  may  be  safely  stated  that  if  until 
January  5,  1918,  until  the  Constituent  Assembly,  Russia  had 
a  variegated  system  of  land  relations,  there  is  still  less  uni- 
formity of  such  relations  at  present.  We  have  no  exact  facts 
regarding  the  distribution  of  the  land  among  the  toiling  masses 
to-day,  but  we  do  know  that,  in  one  way  or  another,  the 
land  was  distributed  to  individual  owners  and  that  endless 
disturbances  and  disagreements  are  arising  out  of  it  at  present. 

If,  in  accordance  with  the  calculations  of  the  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  of  the  Provisional  Government  and  the  Main 
Land  Commission,  the  realization  of  the  land  reform, — which 
includes  the  allotments  of  land  on  the  basis  of  certain  standards 
of  productivity  and  consumption,  with  due  regard  to  the  geo- 
graphic, colonization  and  migration  ramifications  in  each  in- 


34  Ths  Soviets  in  Russia 


stance,  and,  likewise,  to  the  compensation  to  those  compelled 
to  part  with  their  lands, — had  to  take  approximately  from  8 
to  10  years,  we  may  reasonably  say  that  when  this  question 
will  again  come  up  for  final  disposition  before  the  New  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  the  materialization  of  this  reform  may  take 
not  less  than  15  to  20  years.  Thanks  to  the  so-called  "social- 
istic" rule  of  the  Bolsheviki,  the  equitable  solution  of  Russia's 
most  painful  problem  was  put  back  a  decade. 

What,  then,  is  the  way  out?  The  key  to  the  honest  solu- 
tion of  this  question,  after  the  Bolsheviki  will  have  been  driven 
out  of  power  and  the  Russian  State  will  again  rise  from  its 
debris  must,  perforce,  remain  essentially  the  same.  We  must 
again,  pending  the  convocation  of  the  Constituent  Assembly, 
gather  all  data  and  information  regarding  the  present  condi- 
tion of  land  relationships,  coordinate  it,  and  enact  some  tem- 
porary arrangement,  until  the  Constituent  Assembly  will  find 
it  possible  to  arrive  at  a  final  solution  of  this  vexed  and,  at 
present,  still  more  complicated  problem.  All  attempts,  how- 
ever, to  restore  the  status  quo  that  existed  before  the  dispersal 
of  the  Constituent  Assembly  must  be  discarded. 

It  is  a  physical  impossibility,  as  only  armed  force  could 
take  back  from  the  peasants  the  land  which  they  have  taken 
to  themselves,  and  we  will  not  use  armed  force,  which  we 
require  for  the  struggle  with  the  common  enemy,  to  fight  the 
peasants.  It  is  a  political  impossibility,  as  it  would  open  up 
the  gates  for  another  civil  war  at  a  time  when  the  regenerated 
governmental  life  of  Russia  wants  political  quiet  and  stability 
above  all,  and  less  than  anything  else — recurrences  of  Bolshe- 
vism, which  would  be  inevitable  should  the  land  be  forcibly 
taken  back  from  the  peasants.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention,  in 
this  respect,  the  experiences  in  the  Ukraine  during  the  period 
of  the  rule  of  lietman  Skoropadsky,  where  Skoropadsky's 
Government  was  compelled  to  rescind  its  decree  restoring  the 
expropriated  estates  to  their  previous  owners. 

The  only  solution  of  the  land  question  acceptable  to  the 
toiling  masses,  until  its  final  disposition  by  the  future  Constitu- 
ent Assembly,  was  advanced  in  No.  4,  "Struggling  Russia,"  by 
Catherine  Breshkovsky  in  her  article,  "What  We  Are  Fighting 


The  Land  Problem  in  Russia  35 

For."  This  plan  was  first  suggested  in  the  declaration  of  the 
Provisional  Government  of  the  Ural,  formed  towards  the  end 
of  last  summer  in  Ekaterinburg  after  the  Bolsheviki  were 
driven  out.  The  second  paragraph  of  that  declaration  stated : 
"Until  the  solution  of  the  land  question  in  full  by  the  All- 
Russian  Constituent  Assembly,  the  Ural  Government  leaves 
all  agricultural  lands  in  the  hands  of  their  present  actual  pos- 
sessors, taking  at  the  same  time  various  measures  to  safe- 
guard the  interests  of  the  Government  and  likewise  to  preserve 
the  freedom  of  expression  of  its  will  on  this  problem  by  the 
future  Constituent  Assembly."  Later,  in  accordance  with  the 
Ufa  Conference,  the  All-Russian  Provisional  Government  (The 
Directorate)  accepted  this  point  of  view  and  solemnly  restated 
it  in  its  declaration.  In  November,  1918,  the  Ural  Govern- 
ment and  the  All-Russian  Directorate  enacted  a  number  of 
laws  in  conformity  with  this  principle.  The  "Grandmother  of 
the  Russian  Revolution,"  in  advancing  this  point  among  others 
under  the  heading  "Our  Program,"  speaks,  therefore,  not  only 
for  herself,  but  voices  the  opinion  of  the  entire  democracy  of 
Russia  which  is  at  present  combatting  the  tyranny  of  Lenine 
and  Trotzky, 

I  am  coming  to  the  end  of  this  necessarily  brief  statement 
on  the  land  problem  in  Russia.  We  have  seen  that  all  charges 
of  "bourgeois"  and  counter-revolutionism  made  against  the 
Provisional  Government  and  the  Constituent  Assembly  are 
falsehoods  from  beginning  to  end.  We  are  convinced  that  the 
regenerated  Russian  democracy,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
unanimity,  will  cling  to  the  covenants  of  the  First  Revolu- 
tionary Government  and  the  First  Constituent  Assembly  in 
treating  this  cardinal  problem  in  the  reconstruction  of  Russia's 
social  life.  We  may  confidently  say  that  the  Russian  democ- 
racy will  never  betray  its  old  slogan,  which  lies  at  the  very 
bottom  of  new  Russia,  a  motto  put  forth  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  ago  by  the  Russian  writer,  Radischev,  and  later 
adopted  by  those  great  Russians,  Hertzen  and  Chernishevsky, 
prior  to  the  "people's  movement"  during  the  late  seventies,  a 
universally-known  slogan  which  finally  was  made  a  fact  by 
Russia's  First  Constituent  Assembly — "The  Land  to  the 
People  1" 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia 

"In  days  of  great  ailing 
Musk  and  rose  oil  will  not  avail, 
And  none  are  more  useless  than 
such  remedies  .  .  /' 

— Heine. 
I 

RUSSIA  is  recovering.  She  is  returning  to  the  life- 
standards  of  other  civilized  nations  and  v^ill  soon  take 
her  place  in  their  ranks.  But  her  recovery  from  the 
fearful  malady  of  Bolshevism  is  still  fraught  with  countless 
dangers.  She  will  have  to  cure  herself  not  only  in  a  political 
way, — by  returning  to  the  political  program  of  the  Kerensky 
Provisional  Government,  based  upon  the  recognition  of  demo- 
cratic liberties  and  popular  rule,  from  the  very  top  to  the 
bottom,  from  the  village  district  Zemstvo  to  the  Constituent 
Assembly, — but  also  to  undergo  a  drastic  economic  cure. 

If,  after  the  Tzarist  regime  and  the  Great  War,  revolu- 
tionary Russia  inherited  a  semi-destroyed  and  upset  national 
economy  and  finances,  after  the  rule  of  the  Bolsheviki  she  will 
receive  an  industry  completely  destroyed  and  finances  and 
credit  just  as  thoroughly  wiped  out.  Moreover,  we  shall  re- 
ceive in  heritage  a  poisoned  psychology  of  the  working  masses, 
enfeebled  from  hunger  and  idleness  and  corrupted  through 
unemployment  and  the  Red  Army. 

However,  the  process  of  recovery  is  proceeding  apace.  More 
and  more  territory  is  being  freed  from  the  Bolsheviki,  and  the 
ring  around  the  so-called  Soviet  Russia  is  becoming  tighter 
and  tighter.  The  uprisings  within  that  ring  against  the  tyran- 
nies of  the  Bolsheviki's  rule  are  flaring  up  with  ever-increas- 
ing frequency,  and  in  the  ranks  of  the  "rebels"  we  frequently 
observe  many  of  the  erstwhile  loyal  adherents  of  Bolshevism, 
city  workers  and  workers  in  numerous  factories  and  industrial 
establishments. 

Therein  lies  the  security  of  our  success  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  our  cause.  The  workers  are  beginning  to  realize,  as 
many  of  them  have  already  realized,  that  without  statehood. 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia  37 

without  a  recognized  governmental  power,  without  political 
liberty  and  self-rule — that  under  tyranny,  covered  though  it 
be  with  the  most  grandiose  nomenclature,  "socialism,"  "com- 
munism," and  such  like — life  is  unbearable,  progress  is  impos- 
sible, and  knowledge,  humaneness  and  the  common  welfare, 
the  welfare  of  the  working  class  included,  is  a  hollow  pretense. 

The  labor  problem  is  thus  closely  bound  up,  as  the  experi- 
ence of  the  past  has  abundantly  proven  to  the  working  class, 
with  all  other  questions  of  social  life,  and  without  their  solu- 
tion the  labor  problem  is  also  impossible  of  solution.  We 
cannot  speak  of  or  enact  an  eight-hour  law  when  there  is  no 
labor;  we  cannot  discuss  a  minimum  wage  when  there  is  no 
work;  we  cannot  talk  of  trades  unions  when  the  trades  are 
destroyed ;  about  collective  agreements  when  there  is  only 
one  contracting  party  in  evidence;  about  social  insurance  when 
it  is  high  time  to  insure  the  entire  working  mass  against  un- 
employment, as  all  industry  is  at  a  standstill.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances one  can  only  speak  of  national  pensioning,  prac- 
tically what  the  whole  scheme  of  "nationalization"  of  indus- 
try by  the  Bolsheviki  actually  amounts  to.  (See  "The  Bolshe- 
vist Economic  Policy,"  pp.  21-24.) 

These  questions  are  beginning  to  loom  up  already,  but  they 
will  come  up  in  their  full  importance  when  the  real  lord  of 
Russia  will  come  into  his  own — the  All-Russian  Constituent 
Assembly.  While  the  gradual  liberation  of  the  territories 
from  the  Bolsheviki  by  the  victorious  Republican  Armies  is 
proceeding,  only  temporary  regulations  of  an  incomplete  na- 
ture, regulations  adopted  and  enacted  in  practice  by  the  Pro- 
visional Government  of  Kerensky,  are  possible.  But  as  soon 
as  life  will  have  entered  into  more  normal  channels,  an  imme- 
diate regulation  of  labor  relations  will  become  a  pressing 
necessity,  on  the  basis  of  permanent,  well-conceived  and  equi- 
table legislation.  The  democracy  of  Russia  and  its  future 
governmental  powers  will  come  face' to  face  with  these  prob- 
lems, and  their  fate  may  be  sad,  indeed,  if  they  attempt  to 
postpone  the  solution  of  these  problems  indefinitely,  or  to 
solve  them  along  lines  other  than  those  outlined  not  only 
by  the  Russian  Revolution,  but  also  by  the  World-War. 


38  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


II 

The  Russian  Revolution,  in  its  natural  course,  has  brought 
up  for  solution,  along  with  the  land  question,  the  problem  of 
labor,  as  one  of  the  most  important  social  problems.  Upon 
the  correct  and  purposeful  .solution  of  this  problem  will  depend 
Russia's  entire  national  economy,  the  development  of  our  pro- 
ductive forces  and  our  industrial  future.  That  this  ques- 
tion, aside  from  its  economic  importance,  has  an  immense  sig- 
nificance for  all  the  political  life  of  Russia,  was  fully  under- 
stood by  the  Provisional  Government,  and  during  its  short- 
lived rule  it  enacted  a  number  of  fundamental  labor  laws  and 
outlined  a  complete  program  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  All-Rus- 
sian Constituent  Assembly. 

We  are  referring  here,  as  we  did  in  our  past  articles  and 
expect  to  in  the  future,  to  the  activities  of  the  Provi- 
sional Government  which  was  overthrown  by  the  Bolsheviki. 
We  do  it  quite  studiedly.  We  desire  to  achieve  by  this  the 
following:  (1)  To  disprove  the  charge  directed  against  the 
Kerensky  Cabinet  that  it  devoted  its  time  to  oratorical  feats 
and  not  to  actual  creative  work,  and  (2)  To  remove  the  insinu- 
ation that  the  Kerensky  Government  was  tainted  with  any 
counter-revolutionist  tendencies.  From  the  facts  cited  in  my 
previous  articles  and  the  facts  that  follow  below,  the  American 
reader  may  realize  that  it  is  a  gravely  unjust  accusation.  The 
Russian  Provisional  Government,  notwithstanding  its  brief 
tenure  of  office  and  the  colossal  difficulties  it  had  to  face  in 
its  work — the  War,  the  upset  economic  and  industrial  con- 
ditions and  the  uncontrollable  revolutionary  waves — had  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing  a  tremendous  legislative  program, 
including  the  labor  problem,  too,  and  had  marked  out  a  gradual 
plan  of  solving  it  in  the  interests  of  the  working  masses. 

When  we  stated  that  after  the  Bolsheviki  are  dislodged  from 
power,  we  shall  have  to  return  to  the  labor  problem  outlined 
by  the  Russian  Revolution,  we  mean  precisely  the  program  of 
the  Provisional  Government.  We  would  be  undertaking  too 
much  to  analyze  the  entire  amount  of  work  accomplished  in 
this  respect  by  that  Government.  We  shall  content  ourselves, 
therefore,  with  only  brief  references  to  it  when  we  come  to 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia  39 

discuss  the  main  points  of  the  labor  problem.  We  cannot  fail, 
therefore,  to  bring  before  the  reader  a  part  of  the  declaration 
of  the  last  Kerensky  Cabinet  concerning  general  economic  con- 
ditions and  the  labor  problem  in  particular.  In  brief,  this  pro- 
gram amounted  to  the  following: 
1.    In  the  Domain  of  the  Organization  of  Popular  Economy 

The  Provisional  Government  w^ill  strive  to  fix  firm  prices 
for  staple  industrial  products  and  will  simultaneously  regulate 
the  mutual  relations  between  labor  and  capital,  earnings  and 
working  hours.  The  Government  will  invite  cooperatives  of 
all  types  to  participate  in  the  production  and  distribution  of 
all  kinds  of  agricultural  and  industrial  products,  under  the 
general  direction  of  Governmental  organs.  The  Government 
will  also  broadly  utilize  for  this  purpose  all  private  commer- 
cial agencies,  under  its  own  immediate  supervision.  The  intro- 
duction, by  a  definite  law,  of  Government  control  of  produc- 
tion with  the  participation  of  representatives  of  the  working 
and  industrial  classes,  and  an  active  interest  in  the  directing 
of  enterprises  for  the  raising  of  their  productive  standards, 
will  be  one  of  the  aims  of  the  Government.  Also,  a  further 
development  of  the  system  of  Labor  Exchanges  and  Arbitra- 
tion Courts,  and  the  safeguarding  of  the  right  of  organization 
for  workers  of  all  classes  of  labor,  with  the  guarantee  of 
personal  safety  from  aggression  and  attack  to  the  technical 
managing  staffs  of  all  enterprises. 

If  we  add  to  this  social  insurance  of  workers,  we  have  before 
us  the  entire  labor  problem  reduced  to  the  following  points: 
(1)  The  work  hours;  (2)  Regulation  of  wages  (minimum 
wages,  collective  bargaining,  etc.)  ;  (3)  Labor  exchanges ;  (4) 
Mediation  agencies;  (5)  Freedom  of  organization  (trade 
unions,  strikes,  etc.)  ;  (6)  Social  insurance  (sickness,  injuries, 
age,  disability,  maternity,  death  and  unemployment)  ;  (7) 
Government  control  of  industry  with  the  participation  of  labor 
representatives,  and  (8)  The  regulation  of  prices  of  staple 
products  of  industry. 

The  Provisional  Government  had  marked  for  solution  all 
these  questions  which  at  present  confront  the  entire  world 
in  connection  with  the  ending  of  the  War  and  which  were 


40  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


made  the  subject  of  discussion  by  the  Labor  Section  of  the 
Peace  Conference.  The  resurrected  Russian  democracy  is 
now  again  face  to  face  with  these  questions,  and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  they  will  all  be  solved  fully  in  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  upon  the  basis  of  science  and  in  the  interests  of  the 
working  masses. 

In  what  direction  did  the  Provisional  Government  solve 
these  problems,  and  how  does  the  Russian  democracy  propose 
to  solve  it  at  present?  In  the  article  "What  We  Are  Fighting 
For"  by  "Baboushka"  Breshkovsky  ("Struggling  Russia," 
April  12,  1919)  there  are  outlined  a  number  of  concrete  pro- 
posals along  this  line.  Her  program,  as  we  have  stated  several 
times,  is  also  our  program — the  program  of  the  entire  democ- 
racy of  Russia  which  is  waging  war  against  the  Bolsheviki. 
The  purpose  of  this  article  is  merely  to  present  a  more  detailed 
and  clarifying  discussion  of  the  principles  laid  down  by  the 
leaders  of  our  democracy. 

Ill 

Five  days  after  it  was  formed,  on  March  3,  1917,  the  Russian 
Provisional  Government, — having  declared  the  above-men- 
tioned program  and  "considering  it  as  its  immediate  aim  to 
place  the  labor  problem  for  proper  solution," — organized  a 
preparatory  investigation  for  the  drafting  of  required  bills, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  foundation  of  a  Ministry  of  Labor, 
for  the  first  time  in  Russian  history,  on  the  other.  Among 
the  prominent  experts  of  industrial  economy  and  the  labor 
movement  invited  to  participate  in  this  preparatory  work  we 
shall  only  mention  Professors  M.  B.  Bernatzky,  Bykov,  Buko- 
vetzky,  Cherevanin  and  others.  Direct  representatives  of  the 
workers  were  also  invited  to  take  part. 

The  mutual  work  of  these  men  resulted  in  the  preparation  of 
laws,  later  confirmed  by  the  Provisional  Government,  pertain- 
ing to  the  freedom  of  trades  unions,  workers'  committees  in 
industries,  arbitration  boards  and  labor  exchanges,  i.  e.,  all 
questions  that  were  irresistibly  pressing  to  the  front  and 
which  were  banned  by  the  old  laws  of  Tzarism.  Not  wishing 
to  take  upon  itself  the  responsibility,  until  the  convocation  of 
the  Constituent  Assembly,  of  legislating  the  eight-hour  day 
for  the   entire   land,   the  Provisional    Government   gave   the 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia  41 

workers,  by  the  laws  of  freedom  of  organization  and  strikes, 
a  weapon  to  obtain  it  by  means  of  agreement  with  the  em- 
ploying class.  On  April  15,  1917,  the  Petrograd  Association 
of  Manufacturers  and  Foundrymen,  the  organization  of  the 
industrial  capitalists  of  the  Petrograd  district,  and  the  United 
Committees  of  the  Trades  Unions  of  Petrograd  did,  indeed, 
reach  an  understanding  about  the  introduction  of  eight  hours 
as  a  normal  work  day,  in  all  the  industrial  establishments  of 
the  district.  The  example  of  Petrograd  was  soon  followed  all 
over  Russia,  and,  almost  without  a  struggle,  towards  the  end 
of  the  summer  of  1917,  the  eight-hour  workday  became  an 
accomplished  fact  all  over  Russia.  There  remained  only  to 
give  this  fact  a  legalized  form  in  order  to  insure  faithful  adher- 
ence to  it  by  both  sides.  Doubtless,  this  would  have  been 
accomplished  if  the  normal  development  of  Russian  life  had 
not  been  shattered  by  the  criminal  policies  of  the  Bolsheviki. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Provisional  Government,  as  the  actual 
owner  of  all  the  State  factories  and  works  (which  were  placed 
during  the  War  under  the  control  of  the  military  authorities) 
ordered  on  April  15,  1917,  the  eight-hour  workday  to  be  de- 
clared as  the  normal  workday  in  all  such  factories,  with  a 
seven-hour  day  on  the  eve  of  holidays,  thus  reducing  the  work- 
week to  forty-seven  hours,  in  comparison  with  the  54-56 
hours  under  the  old  regime. 

The  conflicts  between  the  employers  and  employees  were 
not,  however,  limited  to  the  demand  for  an  eight-hour  work- 
day! Complications,  which  thwarted,  in  one  way  or  another, 
normal  production  so  badly  needed  by  the  country  ravaged 
by  a  long  War  and  shaken  up  by  a  great  Revolution,  were 
arising  daily.  The  Provisional  Government  was,  therefore, 
compelled  to  direct  its  attention,  without  delay,  to  the  regula- 
tion of  mutual  relations  between  labor  and  capital, — while  in 
the  midst  of  the  preparation  of  a  comprehensive  bill  for  the 
governmental  regulation  and  control  of  industry  predicated 
upon  the  existence  of  strong  labor  unions  and  the  fixing  of 
wages,  profits  and  marketing  prices, — and  in  order  to  insure 
order  and  peace  in  factories  and  works,  issued  the  law  of 
April  23,  1917,  about  "Workers'  Commissions  in  industrial 
establishments." 


42  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


These  committees,  in  accordance  with  the  law,  were  to  con- 
sist of  members  elected  by  the  workers  of  the  given  establish- 
ment on  the  basis  of  a  universal  (women  and  minors  included) 
equal,  direct  and  secret  vote.  (It  may  be  mentioned  here  that 
in  contrast  to  the  Bolshevist  "creative"  work — their  decrees, 
the  Russian  Provisional  Government's,  whenever  it  was  pos- 
sible and  dictated  by  the  logic  of  events,  adhered  to  demo- 
cratic principles.) 

The  business  of  these  commissions  was:  (a)  To  represent 
the  workers  before  the  management  of  the  shop  or  factory  in 
regard  to  questions  affecting  the  firm  and  the  workers,  such  as 
wages,  prices,  working  hours,  working  conditions,  etc.;  (b) 
To  settle  disputes  between  the  workers  themselves ;  (c)  To 
represent  the  workers  before  governmental  and  social  institu- 
tions; (d)  To  take  care  of  cultural  and  educational  work 
among  the  workers  of  the  establishment  and  other  measures 
intended  for  their  welfare.  Again,  by  the  law  of  May  30,  1917, 
the  Provisional  Government  laid  down  the  foundation  for  arbi- 
tration institutions,  and,  first  of  all,  for  the  establishment  of 
arbitration  courts  "to  solve  all  misunderstandings  arising  be- 
tween the  employers  and  their  managers  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  workers  on  the  other." 

By  these  measures,  the  Government  and  the  workers,  who 
both  participated  in  their  preparation,  aimed  to  solve  the 
difficulties  arising,  in  a  peaceful  way,  a  condition  which  was 
sorely  needed  in  those  days  of  supreme  national  effort.  Un- 
fortunately, owing  to  the  agitation  of  the  Bolsheviki  who 
were  opposing  all  negotiations  with  the  "bourgeoisie"  and 
who  were  branding  everything  that  emanated  from  the  Keren- 
sky  Cabinet  as  "bourgeois"  measures  and  preaching  as  a 
panacea  for  all  ills  "immediate  peace  and  the  dictatorship  of 
the  proletariat," — many  of  the  measures  enacted  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  cooperation  with  the  best  representatives  of  the 
working  class,  failed  of  proper  practical  application.  The  surg- 
ing wages  of  Bolshevism  soon  completely  swept  away  these 
first  acts  of  social  legislation,  replacing  them  by  precepts 
that  were  contrary  to  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  the 
labor  movement,  which  spelled  the  death  of  the  trades  unions 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia  43 

and  struck  at  every  activity  in  the  direction  of  the  regulation 
of  the  problem  of  labor  in  Russia. 

IV 

At  present,  when  the  beacon-lights  of  a  free  democratic  de- 
velopment of  our  Motherland  are  seen  in  the  distance  again, 
when  colossal  efforts  by  the  entire  nation  are  needed  for  the 
recreating  of  her  political  and  economic  life,  we  are  again 
confronted  with  the  question  of  labor  legislation.  In  this  sit- 
uation we  must  account  for  and  avail  ourselves  of  our  past 
experience  and  weigh  carefully  our  aims,  plans  for  the  regen- 
eration of  Russia  and  her  productivity  and  the  productive 
importance  of  the  working  class.  We  must  not  forget,  we 
cannot  forget,  that  without  peace  within  the  working  class, 
without  the  satisfaction  of  its  wants  and  aspirations,  we  can- 
not erect  the  future  structure  of  great  Russia. 

In  the  first  place,  therefore,  the  Russian  democracy,  that  is 
now  being  freed  from  Bolshevism,  advances  its  labor  pro- 
gram together  with  the  rehabilitation  of  all  political  liber- 
ties and  the  rule  of  the  people.  In  this  manner  have  acted 
the  Northern  Government  of  Tchaikovsky,  the  Territorial 
Government  of  the  Ural,  the  Ufa  conference ;  and  the  Omsk 
Government,  the  principal  unit  fighting  against  Bolshevism 
must,  logically,  continue  in  the  same  direction  if  it  does  not 
want  to  be  overthrown.  All  these  enumerated  governments 
emphasize  in  their  declarations  the  importance  of  the  labor 
problem  in  general,  the  industrial  economy  of  the  land,  and 
solemnly  declare  adherence  to  the  basic  principles  of  the  labor 
program  outlined  by  the  Russian  Provisional  Government 
and  the  Revolution. 

We  accept,  without  conditions  and  reservation,  the  follow- 
ing program : 

1.  The  eight-hour  day  as  a  normal  workday  and  the  six- 
hour  day  in  mining,  underground  and  extra-hazardous  (chem- 
ical) industries. 

2.  Full  freedom  of  organization  of  workers  in  trades  unions 
and  professional  organizations  for  the  improvement  of  their 
conditions  and  the  promotion  of  solidarity  among  them. 

3.  Freedom  of  strikes  and  coalition  as  a  necessary  requisite 


44  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


of  the  class  struggle.  Human  beings  are  not  sheep :  the  class 
struggle  has  always  existed,  exists  at  present,  and  will  remain 
with  us  for  a  long  time  to  come.  We  recognize  it  and  we 
have  to  consider  it. 

4.  The  prohibition  of  child  labor,  and  in  certain  trades,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  at  certain  periods,  on  the  other — the  prohi- 
bition of  female  labor. 

5.  Social  insurance  against  sickness,  injuries,  disability, 
old  age,  maternity,  death  and  unemployment,  at  the  expense 
of  the  State  and  the  employers.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
in  Soviet  Russia  these  features  are  treated  in  a  most  disgust- 
ing manner.  Having  destroyed  all  the  insurance  organiza- 
tions in  the  country  which  were  in  existence  before  the  Revo- 
lution, the  Bolsheviki  decreed  "social  insurance"  by  the  State, 
15  per  cent,  of  the  earnings  of  the  workers  to  be  applied 
towards  the  State  insurance  fund.  In  reality,  however,  no 
such  application  ever  took  place,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
old  societies  or  companies  placed  the  masses  of  sick  and  dis- 
abled who  were  relying  on  these  mutual  organizations  for 
their  support,  in  a  hopeless  condition. 

6.  The  reestablishment  of  the  Labor  Exchanges,  organ- 
ized for  relief  of  local  unemployed,  at  the  expense  of  local 
agencies  of  self-government,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the 
Arbitration  Courts. 

7.  The  reestablishment  of  the  "Workers'  Committee  on 
Industry"  on  the  basis  of  the  law  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, and  the  organization  of  workers'  secretariates  for  the 
rendering  of  practical  aid  to  the  working  class. 

8.  The  regulation  of  earnings  and  wages,  such  as  the  fixing 
of  a  minimum  wage  on  basis  of  the  minimum  production  per 
workday.  We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  Bolshevism 
has  poisoned  the  psychology  of  the  workmen,  that  masses  of 
workers  have  become  corrupted  from  sheer  idleness,  and  that 
their  productivity  has  fallen  to  an  incredible  degree.  There- 
fore, when  we  declare  in  favor  of  an  eight-hour  day  and  a 
minimum  wage  necessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  worker's 
wants,  we  ask  of  him  a  definite  duty,  the  return  of  a  sufficient 


The  Labor  Problem  in  Russia  45 

amount  of  labor  for  a  given  time.  This  quota  of  labor  must 
be  determined  by  the  workers'  representatives  of  each  trade 
and  profession  and  made  part  of  a  collective  agreement,  freely 
entered  into  and  adhered  to  in  accordance  with  the  new  law, 
between  the  workers  and  the  employers. 

9.  The  further  regulation  of  industry  by  the  State,  in  the 
sense  of  governmental  control  of  industry,  through  local  or- 
gans of  popular  government  and  by  local  labor  bodies;  the 
fixing  of  a  rate  of  profits,  and,  as  far  as  necessary,  the  fixing 
of  market  prices  in  order  to  eliminate  speculation  which  has 
developed  enormously  together  with  the  impoverishment  of 
the  land. 

We  are  passing  through  the  "twelfth"  hour  of  our  history. 
We  shall  either  survive  as  a  great  democratic  country  or  we 
shall  disappear  temporarily  from  the  scene  of  events.  Of 
course,  we  want  to  live !  But,  in  order  to  achieve  life  we  must 
not  hesitate  before  determined  action  to  save  and  recover  it, 
remembering  the  beautiful  words  of  St.  Just,  as  told  by  Heine, 

"In  days  of  great  ailings 
Musk  and  rose  oil  will  not  avail 
And  none  are  more  useless  than  such  remedies . . ." 

Quite  naturally,  the  question  of  governmental  interference 
in  industry  and  the  life  of  the  workers  comes  to  the  fore. 
Now  that  both  the  employers  and  the  workers  have  wit- 
nessed the  chaos  wrought  by  the  destruction  of  the  economic 
life  of  Russia  by  the  Bolsheviki.  our  situation  is  much  simpli- 
fied. The  struggling  classes,  labor  and  capital,  must  and  will 
be  able  to  effect  a  change  from  the  death-grapple  which  has 
played  havoc  with  the  whole  nation,  to  a  temporary  collective 
agreement  defining  their  mutual  relations  and  the  duties  which 
both  classes  must  undertake  at  present  in  the  interests  of 
entire  Russia, 

Government  regulation  and  interference  must,  therefore, 
become  the  slogan  of  all  those  who  aspire  to  live  in  a  great 
Russia.  But  we  must  remember  that  there  exists  the  danger 
of  an  illusion  that  may  lead  some  of  us  to  believe  that  the 
remedy  of  State  control  and  interference,  at  the  present  stage 
in  the  economic  and  political  condition  of  Russia,  is  the  pana- 


46  The  Soviets  in  Russia 


cea  for  all  the  ills  we  suffer  from.  Indeed,  we  place  our  faith 
in  this  cure,  but  we  are  conscious  at  the  same  time  that  this 
State  inteference  requires,  on  the  one  hand,  a  strong,  authori- 
tative governmental  power,  and  powerful  trade  and  profes- 
sional organizations,  on  the  other.  Both  of  these  are  only  pos- 
sible of  achievement  with  the  satisfaction  of  the  basic  demand 
of  the  Russian  peopli — the  All-Russian  Constituent  Assembly. 


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